Guernica
Guernica is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. Gernica is on The Camino del Norte. The town is best known for the devastation it suffered on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica was the scene of a bombing raid by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe. The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overthrow the Basque Government and the Spanish Republican government. According to the official Basque figures, 1654 civilians were killed however in recent times it has been generally agreed that the figure was more likely 300. The town was devastated, though the Biscayan assembly. Pablo Picasso painted his famous “Guernica” painting to commemorate the horrors of the bombing and there is a tapestry copy of Picasso’s Guernica displayed on the wall of the UN building in New York City, at the entrance to the Security Council room, to serve as a reminder to world leaders of the devastation of war.
