Gernika and Germany: Historiographical debates

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Published 22-11-2011
Walther L. Bernecker

Abstract

The article examines the historiographical debates about the bombardment of Gernika and joins these debates with the respective political conjuncture when they took place. Different historiographical interpretations arose practically immediately after the bombardment, and the differences in some cases still exist. The different versions referred and refer to the questions, who destroyed Gernika, which aim was intended with the bombardment, how was destroyed the town, how many victims provoked the air attack, and who has the political and moral responsibility of the destruction of the town. In the second part of the article, the author examines the place of Gernika in the collective memory of the Germans, mainly from 1977 onwards, when in Spain the bombardment could be rememorated publicly, and the habitants of the village contacted German authorities in order to claim for compensation.

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