Frances Humphrey Lecture Series: The Bombing of Gernika and its Impact upon the U.S.
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Fri, 11/13/2015 - 3:47pm
Event Date:
November 19, 2015 - 6:30pm The Frances Humphrey Lecture Series this week features a presentation on the Bombing of Gernika and its impact upon the United States. The lecture is Thursday, Nov. 19, 6:30 p.m. at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City. This lecture and book signing by Xabier Irujo will be enjoyed by anyone interested the history of modern warfare, Basque studies, and ethical and humanitarian issues related to the effects of war on society.
On April 26, 1937, a massive aerial attack by German and Italian forces reduced the Basque city of Gernika to rubble and left more than 1,600 people dead.
Although the assault was initiated as part of a terror bombing campaign by Francoists against Basque Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, its main intent was to test the effectiveness of the rising German Luftwaffe's new equipment and strategies.
To produce this detailed analysis of the political and military background of the attack and its subsequent international impact, Xabier Irujo examined archives and official government documents in several countries and conducted numerous interviews with Basques who survived. His account of the assault itself, based on eyewitness reports from both victims and attackers, vividly recalls the horror of that first example of the blitz bombing that served the Germans during the first years of World War II.
Irujo’s book, Gernika, 1937: The Market Day Massacre, is an important contribution to the history of the Spanish Civil War and to our understanding of the military strategies and decisions that shaped this war and would later be employed by the Nazis during World War II.
$8 for adults; free for museum members and ages 17 and under.
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