Research in France
Research has focused on Paris and Madrid. In the French capital, the search for documents has focused on the Historical Defence Archive and the Departmental Archive of Saint Denis, which houses the archives of the French Communist Party. In 2019, a research was carried out at the General Administration Archive (AGA) in Alcalá de Henares, the General Archive of the Royal Palace in Madrid and the Casa de Alba Archive Foundation in Madrid.
The French documents of the Department of Defence provide a wealth of information on the air warfare techniques used by the Germans and Italians, bombing tactics, reports and descriptive studies of the Luftwaffe and Aviazione Legionaria aircraft that took part in the war in the Basque Country in 1937 and the effects of the bombing on Basque towns.
In the Saint Denis archive, the documentation consulted corresponds to the information that the naval attaché of the French Navy, Raymond Moullec, sent to his General Staff about his mission in the Basque Country, which consists of hundreds of handwritten or typewritten documents, photographs, sketches, plans, intelligence reports on bombing raids or on the towns he visited. Among them was Gernika, which he visited in May 1937, having the opportunity to interview some thirty survivors whose testimonies were the basis for his report on the bombing of the town.
In 2018, the investigation was carried out in the Service Historique de la Défense of Paris (Château de Vincennes).
In the Service Historique de la Défense the research was about the documentation of the Spanish Civil war in Euskadi, which refers to the Gipuzkoa front, the bombing of Gernika among other bombings, the situation in Bilbao, correspondence, military operations and detailed information on the German aircraft that participated in the conflict.
Archives Nationales de France
Address: 59 Rue Guynemer,
93383 Pierrefitte-sur-Seine cedex.
Telephone: [+33] 1 75 47 20 02
E-mail: anparis@culture.gouv.fr.
Web site
Archives des Affaires Etrangères (París)
Address: 3 Rue Suzanne Masson,
93120 La Courneuve.
Telephone: [+33] (0)1 43 17 70 41
E-mail: lecture.archives@diplomatie.gouv.fr
Web site
Archives des Affaires Etrangères (Nantes)
Address: 17, rue du Casterneau
44036 Nantes Cedex.
Telephone: [+33] (0)2 51 77 24 59
E-mail: archives.cadn_@_diplomatie.gouv.fr
Web site
Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Bibliothèque Richelieu)
Address: 58 rue de Richelieu
75002 Paris.
Telephone: [+33] 01 53 79 59 59
Web site
Gaumont Cinemathèque
Address: 24 rue du docteur Bauer
93400 St Ouen.
Telephone: [+33] 01 49 48 15 15
E-mail: contact@gparchives.com
Web site
Service Historique de la Défense (Paris)
Address: Av. de Paris,
94306 Vincennes.
Telephone: [+33] 1 41 93 45 45
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