the city centre, where the buildings were densely crowded, the air raid caused a firestorm. Hans Rumpf, the general inspector of fire fighting, happened to be in Leipzig during the attack. He said the firestorm was even more intense than the one in Hamburg during Operation Gomorrah. Firefighters had to be called from the hinterland, as the firebrigade of Leipzig had had to send half of their own forces to Berlin. These external forces were often not able to fight the flames, because their hoses did not fit the custom-made connections to the hydrants in Leipzig, of which only 30% had been standardised. Moreover, the water supply broke down quickly. More than 1800 people were killed in the attack. This is a small number for such a heavy attack, because many inhabitants did not follow the instruction to stay in the cellars until the all-clear was given, and so escaped the firestorm flames. In the city centre many historical buildings fell victim to the attack, namely the Old and the New Theatre, the New Trade Exchange, the nave of St. John's Church (Johanniskirche), the Old Balance (Alte Waage), St. Matthew’s Church (Matthäikirche), the Museum of Fine Art, the Café Zimmermann (a favourite of J.S. Bach), and the Augusteum, the main building of the University. The roof truss of the Old Town Hall burned out; a concrete ceiling that had been installed at the beginning of the 20th century during a renovation prevented a burning out of the storeys below. As another consequence of the attack the destruction of 1,067 commercial buildings, 472 factory buildings, 56 schools, 29 fair buildings and 9 churches was recorded. Out of 92 departments of the University of Leipzig, 58 were hit and partially destroyed, including the first psychology laboratory, founded by Wilhelm Wundt. 20 February 1944 During the so-called Big Week, Leipzig was one of the first targets that were attacked by British and American bombers. On 20 February 1944, between 3:15 AM and 4:20 AM, residential areas in the south (Connewitz) as well as residential and industrial areas in the southwest of Leipzig (Schleußig and Großzschocher) were hit. During this night raid, more than 700 bombers were used, which dropped about 2300 tons of bombs. In the afternoon of the same day, more than 200 bombers of the 8th U.S. Air Force attacked industrial facilities in the northeast of the city, using about 700