The Blackened Stones of Dresden

On the morning of February 14, 1945, the Frauenkirche in Dresden lay in ruins. Allied firebombing had collapsed the great baroque dome, reducing one of Europe's most beautiful churches to a mountain of charred rubble. For forty-five years, under Communist rule, the stones sat untouched — a deliberate monument to destruction. Many assumed the church was gone forever. But a quiet, stubborn promise persisted.…