«Yes. We hit the Almirante Cerveras.» Only the next day, after the attack on Almeria, they learned that they had hit the cruiser «Germany» and allegedly the German Honour.
It seems there are two German honours: the one, for the brothers Humboldt, Goethe and Schiller, the poets of «Egmont» and «Don Carlos», who are honoured in Spain, and the other one, the honour, which led the «Junkers nationales» to Getafé, the «the Moros», the honour of the label «Berlin Rheinsdorf 1936». However, there is only one German honour - the other one is the German dishonor, the «dishonor of Almeria», the Hitler-dishonor.
Since the installation of the german-italian military base on Mallorca, Catalania was threatened by an attack from the sea-side.
For some time Catalania had been fewer afflicted by the horrors of the war than other provinces. Franco hoped long time to domoralize Catalania by diversion and provocations. But after the mai-rebellion of the agents of Franco the peoples front strengthened also in Barcelona. After strangling the North, Catalania became a main area of the destruction work of Franco.
Lerida, the second largest city of Catalania, was situated one hundred kilometers behind the front, when on November 2, 1937 the bombers came. In the early morning they appeared in unusual, uncounted quantity over the market place. Before it was clear whether they were friend or foe, the bombs struck the city. Those who were not killed instantly, ran for their life searching any protection.
The bombing took five minutes, 700 persons were injured, and 215 killed, among them 56 children. A whole school class was murdered by the explosion of a 500-Kilogram-Bomb. The birds of death had disappeared since a long time, before the cries of the children under the debris of the school ended.
Starting on January 10, 1938 at least ten Bombardements per day were executed from Fallorca against Tortosa, against Sagunt, against Castellon, against Alfambra, against Almazona, against Valencia, against Tarraona, against Lerida, against Barbastra, against Barcelona. On January 19 in Barcelona 138 persons were killed.
In February the quantity of material for the Bombardements was doubled, and trebled in March. Franco, Hitler and Mussolini believed to demoralize the Spaniards and Catalonians when they created the hell for the civilian population, to prepare the «final victory».
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