Notes

img



PROLOGUE

Based partly on personal interviews with eyewitnesses who lived in Guernica during the Civil War, including Augusto Unceta, José Rodríguez, Juan Silliaco, Juan Plaza, Teresa Ortuz, Antonio Arazamagni, María Ortuza.

Details of German involvement in Spain were provided by Hans Asmus, Heinz Trettner, Hans Henning, Freiherr von Beust, Hannes Trautloft, among others.

Gotz, Freiherr von Richthofen, made available hitherto unpublished details from his father’s diaries, showing how and why the Condor Legion went to the Basque country.

Details of the Nonintervention Pact and the strength of the Republican forces came from British and German government official documents; Hugh Thomas’s The Spanish Civil War; George Steer’s The Tree of Gernika; House of Commons Report on Parliamentary Debates. Refugee atrocity stories are mentioned in The “Military” Atrocities of the Rebels, published by the British Labour Party, and Spain at War, published independently. Mola’s proclamation: Steer, p. 159, et al.

SUNDAY, APRIL 25, 1937

  1. Based mainly on personal interviews with Sister Teresa Ortuz.
  2. Largely based on personal interviews with Hans Asmus, who provided supplementary material on Von Richthofen as well as a detailed description of life at Vitoria; also based on lengthy interviews and documentation provided by Baroness von Richthofen and Freiherr von Richthofen.
  3. Sister Teresa Ortuz provided the hospital details. The arrival of retreating troops in the town was revealed by one of them, Faustino Pastor, in a personal interview with one of the authors. Evacuation of the arms factory from Guernica was revealed by Augusto Unceta during a lengthy personal interview with the authors. The refugees’ attempt to hijack the train was described by Ramón Gandaría. Details of the fires in the town and Guernica’s fire service were given during several interviews with Juan Silliaco as well as with members of the present fire service in the town; further corroborative details came from José Rodríguez and Juan Plaza. Personal interviews with Antonio Arazamagni provided details of the cat-stealing gangs and the remainder of the chapter.
  4. Based on interviews with Baroness and Freiherr von Richthofen, Hans Asmus, Freiherr von Beust. Written sources include: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt Leitender Historiker archives at Freiburg; Hans Henning Abendroth’s Hitler in der Spanischen Arena; Manfred Merkes’s Die Deutsche Politik im Spanischen Bürgerkrieg 1936-1939.
  5. Sister Teresa Ortuz provided material on her relationship with Captain Cortés in this and subsequent chapters. Augusto Unceta and José Gandaría provided the bulk of the remainder of the chapter on Rufino Unceta, his attitude toward the Nationalists, and the dangerous cat-and-mouse game he played with the Republicans. Direct quotes were provided by Rufino Unceta himself.
  6. Hans Asmus provided details of the reconnaissance flight, Von Richthofen’s attitude toward the Legion’s official brothel, and toward his aircrews. Additional and confirmatory details were provided by Baroness and Freiherr von Richthofen, and Freiherr von Beust, among others.

  7. The Basque retreat was recorded by Juan Dominguiz, whose diaries, as well as those of his fiancée, Carmen Batzar, were made available to the authors and provided the material for the first part of this chapter. Additional material was provided by former colleagues of Dominguiz, including Ramón Gandaría. In Guernica the authors were able to see Father Iturran’s papers; additional material on the priest came from Juan Plaza, Juan Silliaco, Antonio Arazamagni, Augusto Unceta, Ramón Gandaría, Father Alberto de Onaindía, María Urnganguru, María Ortuza, and the priest of Santa María in 1974, who made available to the authors the church records covering the period of the war. Juan Silliaco’s story emerged during personal interviews. Carmen Batzar’s story comes mainly from her diaries.
  8. Hans Asmus provided the source material for the actual workings of the operations room. He also described the various German personnel there and provided the authors with a copy of the TSI map used to plan the attack. Written sources: The military archives at Freiburg provided much material, including Von Richthofen’s thoughts included in “Auswertung Rügen,” written by him in 1938, countersigned by Sperrle, of which the authors have a copy. In it he sets out many of the complaints and orders the chapter refers to. The few direct quotations by those involved in the Marquina raid were recalled to the best of his knowledge by Hans Asmus.
  9. Sister Teresa Ortuz and Ramón Gandaría provided the bulk of the material for this chapter. The character and attitudes of Mayor José Labauría were recalled in personal interviews with the authors by people who had observed him at work, including Jesús Leizaola, Juan Plaza, Father Alberto de Onaindía, Antonio Arazamagni, Frank Ellere, Ernst Borchers, Juan Guezureya, and Mother María, the Superior of La Merced Convent. President Aguirre’s decision is recorded in Talón’s Arde Guernica. The theft of flour comes from firsthand recollection of Antonio Arazamagni. Juan Dominguiz’s diaries provided the source material for the closing scenes of the chapter.

  10. The church services were recreated through personal interviews with members of the congregations, including Juan Plaza, Augusto Unceta, José Rodríguez, members of the Arrién family, Juan Silliaco, Juan Guezureya. Written sources consulted include the papers of Father Iturran and the diaries of Carmen Batzar. María Ortuza contributed details of her lunchtime dilemma with the rabbit. Gandaría’s attempts to telephone Marquina were recalled by him.
  11. The events leading up to the wounding of Dominguiz were recalled by himself and another survivor, Frank Ellere, during personal interviews with the authors. Carmen Batzar’s diaries provided most of the source material for her behavior that day. Sister Teresa Ortuz provided a number of details about life in the hospital. Isidro Arriéb’s son-in-law, Ortis, his wife, and other members of the family pooled their recollections, papers, and menus to provide the fullest possible picture of the Arrien restaurant, and of Isidro Arrién’s thoughts and actions. The meeting between José Rodríguez and Rufino Unceta emerged during interviews with José Rodríguez and was corroborated by Augusto Unceta.
  12. Hans Asmus searched his memory and his files to provide portraits of the debriefing and the meeting of the Target Selection Committee. Other German written sources (see Bibliography) provided additional data.
  13. Sister Teresa Ortuz, Mother Augusta, and Carmen Batzar’s diaries provided the main source material for the hospital scene. Juan Silliaco and Antonio Arazamagni are the sources for the scenes in Guernica.
  14. Part of this chapter is based on personal interviews with Hans Asmus and with Baroness and Freiherr von Richthofen. Details of the meeting in Burgos came from Von Richthofen’s own papers, both those in the possession of his family and those at the military archives in Freiburg. Manfred Merkes’s Die Deutsche Politik im Spanischen Bürgerkrieg 1936-1939 provided additional information. The biographical details of Von Moreau came partly from his Help for the Alcázar. The flight over Bilbao was partly recreated from the writings of Count Max Hoyos, who flew on the raid. Further details were provided by personal interview with Trautloft and a study of his Als Jagdflieger in Spanien, arguably one of the most informative books written by a German flier in Spain. See also Steer, Thomas, and Talón; and “Auswertung Rügen,” and the Von Beust report (Freiburg).
  15. Father Iturran’s reactions are indicated in his papers; later, he discussed them with Juan Plaza’s father, who passed them on to his son, who was interviewed by the authors. María Ortuza and María Urnganguru were just two of several eyewitnesses who recalled the band playing and the troops coming into the town.

Juan Plaza and Ramón Gandaría provided separate detailed accounts of Father Iturran’s clash with Gandaría; Mother María, Superior at La Merced Convent, provided corroborative details. Carmen Batzar’s diaries revealed the existence of the chapel of prayer at the Convent of Santa Clara, which the authors visited. José Rodríguez provided the account of the soldiers “cavorting about.”

Rufino Unceta was one of several people who saw troops in the Convent of Santa Clara. Further confirmation came from nuns now living in the convent.

Personal testimony from María Ortuza revealed her reactions to the troops; she was interviewed on four separate occasions before her full story emerged. Members of the Arrién family provided the details about their restaurant. Additional information came from Juan Guezureya, in 1974 owner of the Taberna Vasca, who gave the authors several long interviews, as well as documentation and photographs. Ramón Gandaría, Juan Plaza, Juan Silliaco, and Sister Teresa Ortuz were among some thirty eyewitnesses who told the authors about the presence of troops in the town, their location and behavior. The encounter between Antonio Arazamagni and Gandarí was recollected by Arazamagni and confirmed by Gandaría.

  1. The opening scene was recalled by Sister Teresa Ortuz. Juan Silliaco described the scene in his bar. The reactions of Father Eusebio, indeed most of the story of the parish priest of San Juan, is drawn from one prime source: Antonio Arazamagni. A close bond later existed between the baker and the cleric. Father Eusebio, according to the testimony of Arazamagni, whom the authors found a reliable witness in all matters which they could corroborate, discussed openly his relationship with Father Iturran. Some corroboration over the conflict between the two priests came from Ramón Gandaría, Father Alberto de Onaindía, and the diaries of Carmen Batzar. María Ortuza told us of her visit to Santa Clara; corroboration came from Arazamagni. The Radio Salamanca broadcast was remembered by Juan Plaza, José Rodríguez, the Arrién family, and others.
  2. Hans Asmus revealed Von Richthofen’s preoccupation with the weather. Baroness von Richthofen made available, for the first time, relevant portions of her husband’s diary, quoted here. The brothel and party descriptions came from various former Legionnaires whose names have not been mentioned. Those mentioned by name in other contexts were personally interviewed by the authors. The description of Vigón and his intelligence report were recalled by Hans Asmus, who knew Vigón well, and Baroness von Richthofen, who knew of him from her husband. Freiherr von Beust contributed details about life at Burgos and the idiosyncrasies of a JU-52 bomber, as did various other former Legionnaires.

MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1937

  1. Ramón Gandaría and Sister Teresa Ortuz provided details of the early hours in Guernica on Monday. Additional material came from Antonio Arazamagni and María Ortuza. The principal written source was Carmen Batzar’s diary.
  2. Hans Asmus provided the bulk of the material. Additional information came from written German sources listed in the Bibliography, including the diary of Hans Joachim Wandel, part of which the authors have seen.

  3. Lazcano’s arrival and subsequent behavior were carefully noted and documented by Juan Silliaco, among others. Additional information came from Sister Teresa Ortuz and Ramón Gandaría, who also furnished details of the meeting with Mother María and Father Eusebio. Juan Plaza described the market scene. María Ortuza and Rafael Herrán told the authors the story of the cooking clubs and other market details. Arazamagni contributed data about his customers. Gandaría is the source for the air alert. See also Talón, Steer, Aguirre.
  4. The basis of this chapter comes from a compilation of: Kampfflieger by Von Knauer, countersigned by Sperrle; part of “Auswertung Rügen” by Von Richthofen, and also from his personal diary, Von Beust’s report, and other documents at Freiburg. Additional material came from former Legionnaires listed in the Appendix.
  5. Ramón Gandaría provided details of the morning conference at La Merced. His visit to the factory was confirmed by José Rodríguez. The Bank of Vizcaya’s staff in Guernica in 1974 included Ramón Larrinaga Levereguo, who had served under Bareno, and was able to reveal the story. Details of the bank’s reactions to Bareno was also provided by the branch’s 1974 manager, José Aboitiz Garechama.

  6. The sole source for this chapter is Von Richthofen’s personal diary.
  7. Lazcano’s tour through the town was observed by Juan Plaza, María Ortuza, and Juan Silliaco, who between them helped to recreate it; see also Talón. José Rodríguez revealed his premonition to the authors. Carmen Batzar’s diaries provided the other material.
  8. Hans Asmus provided the bulk of the material for this chapter. Supplementary material came from Condor Legion documents at Freiburg, from Wandel’s diary, from information provided by Ehrhart von Krafft, and an interview with Freiherr von Beust.
  9. Based on interviews with Sister Teresa Ortuz, Arazamagni, Gandaría, Silliaco, Juan Guezureya, Rodríguez, Larrinaga, and María Ortuza.
  10. The basis for this chapter is a compilation similar to that outlined for Chapter 21. Additional material came from Juan Plaza, Faustino Pastor, Arazamagni, María Ortuza, Silliaco, members of the Arrién family, Guezureya, Herrán, Gandaría, Rodríguez, Augusto and Rufino Unceta. See also Steer and contemporary newspaper accounts.
  11. Material for the scenes in Guernica came mainly from interviews with eyewitnesses mentioned in the text. The Condor Legion scenes are based on material from the archives at Freiburg, with some background information from Hoyos’s Pedros y Pablos.
  12. Sources are similar to those for preceding chapter. For the Legion scenes, additional information was provided in interviews, particularly by Freiherr von Beust, and from Wandel’s diary. Certain background information was culled from Trautloft’s book, and in an interview with him. The scenes in Guernica came mainly from personal interviews. See Talón and Steer.
  13. Based almost exclusively on testimony drawn from eyewitnesses mentioned in the text, with a small amount of additional information from contemporary newspaper accounts.
  14. Bareno scenes as in Chapter 22. The escape of the widow Urnganguru with her five daughters was described by one of her daughters, María. The view of Guernica being bombed as seen from Luno was recalled by two elderly residents of Luno who preferred to remain anonymous, and by Arazamagni. The scenes in the Town Hall shelter were later reported by Mayor Labauría in the pamphlet Guernica, and in personal interview by María Ortuza. Apart from interviews with eyewitnesses, the scenes within, and bombing of, the Church of Santa María (and San Juan) are mentioned in the church records.

TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY

  1. Again, the sources are mainly interviews with eyewitnesses. Important written sources include Steer’s Tree of Gernika and contemporary newspaper accounts in The Times of London and The New York Times.
  2. Based mainly on eyewitness accounts, including interviews with Father Alberto de Onaindía and passages from his book Hombre de Paz en la Guerra, plus contemporary reports in German, British, Spanish, French, and American newspapers. See also Steer, Thomas, and Talón.
  3. Based on eyewitness accounts of those who saw the conquerors arrive, plus corroborative reports in German, French, and British newspapers.

EPILOGUE

Based mainly on interviews, including one with the president of the Basque Government-in-Exile, Señor Jesús Leizaola. Written sources include part of Wandel’s diary; Hansard, vols. 323–326; The Trial of German Major War Criminals at Nuremberg; German Foreign Policy Documents; Guernica, The Official Report of a Commission; House of Commons Parliamentary Debates, February 7, 1938. See also Steer, Aguirre, Thomas, Talón, and contemporary newspaper accounts.