"German airforces, following orders of the Spanish Fascists, have bombed Guernica, setting the historical villa, that so much veneration has among the Basques, on fire. They (the Spanish Fascists) wanted to hurt us in the most vulnerable spot of our (the Basques) patriotic sentiment, proving once again what Euzkadi (Basque provinces) may expect from those who won't hesitate in destroying the sanctuary that commemorates centuries of our freedom and democracy (...). Before God and before History, which will judge us all, I assure you that the German planes bombed the population of Guernica, with unprecedented viciousness, for three hours, reducing the historical villa to ashes. They haunted women and children with machine gun fire, killing large numbers of them (..)".