The Guernica Crime The outburst of anger in Germany at
British comments on the destruction of Guernica is surprising, for there has been, on the whole, a tendency in this country to suspend judgement on the vital question of whether the crime was a German conception and carried out by German pilots. That the town was relentlessly bombarded from the air is irrefutably established by the evidence of reputable British journalists, apart from any Spanish testimony. That much of the damage was due to fire is likely enough, for all the earliest reports spoke of incendiary bombs being used ; the suggestion from insurgent headquarters that the town was fired by the Basques themselves is unconvincing. There seems to be no question either, that the aeroplanes and the bombs they dropped were German, but that means little in itself, for plenty of German, Italian, French and Russian aeroplanes are known to be in use on either side. Of who conceived the outrage and who gave the order nothing is known, and it may be long before the truth about that can be established. The attack on Guernica, according to all the evidence available, was a crimc beyond palliation. The British Government was abundantly justified in bringing up the whole question of air bombardment of undefended cities before the Non-Intervention Committee on Tuesday, and Herr von Ribbentrop's demurrers to a discussion were regrettable. But they do not prove German guilt, any more than stories of German aeroplanes flying over France and a German landing at San Sebastian can be treated as fact without much more confirmation than they have yet received.
