Spain : Finally Eradicating It's Fascist History

Interesting story, this, on BBC.

General Franco

Spain has for a long time struggled to overcome it's 40 year Fascist rule under General Franco, who took power in 1936, overthrowing a democratically elected Left Wing Government

This started the Spanish Civil War (which this writer's Grandfather fought in against Franco) and with support from Hitler and Mussolini, Franco triumphed, just, beginning forty years of dictatorship.

He banned all other political parties. He then formed 190 Concentration Camps, and others for forced labor and executions, mostly against political and ideological enemies, causing an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths.

And we wonder where Hitler got all his best ideas from?

A Franco statue is removed. Note the Red and Black paint damage, the standard colours of Anti Fascist groups the world over.

Spain never entered the European War (although Franco's Government assisted the Nazis in tracking down Spanish Jews in parts of Europe) and thus Franco survived WWII and continued as Dictator until he died in 1975.

Now Spain is taking the final steps to remove as many memories of that time as possible. 35 streets named after Franco and his allies will be renamed after Left Wing heroes of the Spanish Civil War and other Freedom Fighters of the last forty years. Statues are being ripped up.

Now that the 40-year agreement to remain silent has been challenged, Spain could go much further in probing its troubled past.

Another Franco statue goes.

The left-wing Podemos party, in particular, wants those who committed Franco-era crimes to face trial and for war graves to be excavated. There is pressure from other groups to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission similar to South Africa's after the end of apartheid.

It is a stark warning to any Fascists: Any victory you may achieve, anywhere, will always be temporary. Always. History proves this.

Picasso's famous Guernica, commemorating the destruction of the town in 1937 by the German Luftwaffe in support of Franco's Forces.