Gernika Generation in England

It seems like everybody knows about the children of the European Jewish community who found refuge in England right before and during WWII.

What not a lot of people know is that before them there was an effort by the Basque government to put the Basque childhood out of harm's way with the Basque Republic under attack by the Fascist forces of Europe.

There is an excellent book called "The Guernica Generation" written by Dorothy Legarreta that describes the exodus of Basque children to England, Russia, Mexico and France.

The BBC, with their special love-hate relationship towards the Basques, authors of that infamous map where people is mislead to think that ETA represents the bulk of the Basque society which is incorrect since Basque people reject violent means to achieve their goal of self determination, that very same BBC broadcasted a show about the Basque children in the UK during the so called Spanish Civil War:

In 1937, 4,000 Basque children were brought to Britain to escape the horrors of the Spanish Civil War.

Even before they arrived there was controversy about the operation, as many people believed such an act would contravene the UK's stance of non-intervention in the war.

However, after the destruction of Guernica by German bombers, there were increasing fears for the safety of the civilian population in nearby Bilbao.

The government relented, allowing the evacuation, but would not provide any financial support.

The decision by the English government to block this humanitarian effort had more to do with the sympathy many English politicians felt for Franco due to their own extreme right thinking and less with the non-intervention pact. One of the most infamous leaders of this position was no one else than Winston Churchill, the same Winston Churchill that had ordered the bombing with biological weapons of Kurdish villages in northern Iraq.

But lets continue reading the article:

Once Bilbao fell to the nationalists, right-wing politicians and newspapers began pressing for the return of the children to their parents. But many had since fled Spain, while others had been captured and imprisoned by Franco's forces or were desperately trying to scratch a living under the new regime.

The arguments between politicians, humanitarian bodies and the Spanish Catholic Church became increasingly vitriolic and complex as they argued over the children's care and repatriation.

In the delicate political climate of the late 1930s, as the dark clouds of fascism spread across Europe, the children became pawns in a game of national and international politics.

In the end, many of them went back to Euskal Herria.

Some of them remained in England, it is widely known that many of the Basque refugee girls became themselves caretakers for the Jewish children that came to live in the very same camps the Basque children found shelter.

Some Basque boys grew up to be old enough to enlist and take part of the invasion of Normandy on D day.

This is information that people need to know so they can understand the staunch support that the Basques gave the Allied Forces during WWII, and the betrayal they were victims of when the West decided to recognize Franco's regime.

*You can also read the entire article at Artxiboak.

.... ... .