The bombing of cities and civilians during wartime has been a constant of history even before planes became war guns. On April 26th, 1937, Gernika, the sacred city of Basque People, was destroyed and more than 2,000 people were killed by the action of the Nazi Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force, acting under Francisco Franco’s command.
The bombing of Gernika was one of the first actions of the Condor Legion, a real-life training for the Nazi’s Blitzkrieg. The methods developed by this unit served as a model for the bombings by Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
This website compiles a variety of resources related to the bombing of Gernika in 1937. Its main component is a history of the bombing and its antecedents by Dr. Xabier Irujo. Additional resources include a digital exhibit and downloadable materials.
The website is a collaborative effort of the William A. Douglass Center for Basque Studies, the Digital Services of the University Libraries, and the Jon Bilbao Basque Library of the University of Nevada, Reno.