Crucita Etxabe and Mari Carmen Aguirre are respectively 92 and 91 years old, and they describe to the Spanish press agency EFE their memories, perfectly intact, of the hours of hell of the bombardment of Guernica, in 1937. A story that resonates with what is currently taking place in Ukraine. And that’s precisely why they speak, to express their sadness at seeing history repeat itself. From Guernica to Mariupol, the horror is always the same.
April 26, 1937 was market day. The weather was good, so after lunch Crucita went to play in the Cuatro Bancos park, on the heights of the city. And that’s where she saw the plane squadrons of the Condor Legion, Hitler’s aviation, arrive: “They were flying so lowshe remembers, we could see the pilots. And then they bombed“. It was 4:30 p.m., she will remember it all her life.
Survivors of the bombardeo of #Gernikadel que se cumplen 85 años, ven “con mucha tristeza” cómo el “horror” que vivieron en su niñez se repite ahora en la guerra de Ucrania pic.twitter.com/kCW6n7EcpA
— EFETV (@EFETV) April 25, 2022
Mari Carmen, she was below, in the city, and she recounts the first explosion, the dread, then the second, the third and her frantic race to take shelter. “In a few minutes, everything darkened, she describes, foggy, and then Guernica burned, the sky turned scarlet, the whole town was on fire.”
Within hours, the Condor Legion, sent by Hitler to support the dictator Franco in his war against the Republicans, dropped 50 tons of bombs on the 7,000 inhabitants. Three quarters of the city are destroyed, more than 1,400 civilians die, hundreds are injured. And the others flee, take refuge, in Bilbao or for some in France, like Crucita and her parents who passed through Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, Bordeaux, Paris, then Bry-sur-Marne for two years, before return to Guernica.
The bombardeo of #Gernika for part of the Nazi and Fascist air force for one of the most cruel episodes of the Civil War. 85 años después, recordamos este día y a todas sus víctimas. Porque la memoria es imprescindible para seguir construyendo una sociedad democratic y en paz. pic.twitter.com/lwtiDQA7dJ
— Pedro Sanchez (@sanchezcastejon) April 26, 2022
“The return was both exciting and terriblesays Crucita. Everything was in ruins, everything had to be redone85 years later, she still cries while telling it, and the pain is even more intense when she sees on TV the images that come from Ukraine, the bombs, the blood, the people who leave with their suitcases. can’t watch.”But I want to tell these Ukrainian families that it will be fineshe says, that they will get out of it, because we get up.” “We go aheadadds Mari Carmen, you have to keep hope, that’s the message of Guernica, everything works out and everything passes”.