Germany mustn’t forget ‘crime’ of Nazi bombing of Spanish town: president

MADRID: President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday said Germany must not forget the “crime” of Guernica, days before becoming the first German head of state to visit the Spanish town devastated by Nazi bombers in 1937.

The Condor Legion killed hundreds when it bombed the northern Basque town on April 26, 1937 in support of General Francisco Franco’s rebels during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) alongside Fascist Italy.

Addressing a gala dinner hosted by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia at Madrid’s Royal Palace on day one of a three-day state visit, Steinmeier said Germans “brought a heavy burden of guilt upon themselves” in Guernica.

It was “very important to me” that Germans “do not forget what happened back then. This crime was committed by Germans,” he said.

“Guernica is a reminder — a reminder to stand up for peace, freedom, and the preservation of human rights.”

Steinmeier is due to travel to Guernica with Felipe on Friday and pay tribute to the victims of the raid.

The visit comes almost 30 years after former German president Roman Herzog recognized his country’s “involvement” and called for “reconciliation.”

Steinmeier had earlier viewed Pablo Picasso’s anti-war masterpiece “Guernica” at Madrid’s Reina Sofia art museum, a work famed for capturing the suffering of innocent civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the painting last week and has compared the massacre in Guernica to the suffering inflicted by Russia’s invasion of his country.

Steinmeier had addressed the Spanish parliament before viewing the painting, warning that “extremist and populist movements are gaining strength in our societies” and attacking “the pillars on which liberal democracies are based.”

Spain remembered its own authoritarian past on November 20, which marked the 50th anniversary of Franco’s death and the end of his 36-year dictatorship.

On Thursday, Steinmeier will hold talks with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, attend a German-Spanish economic forum and present an award to former Real Madrid and Germany star Toni Kroos at the Bernabeu stadium.