Calay News
The President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, announced at a press conference that the eagle with Nazi symbolism found on the German warship Graf Spee in 2006 will be melted down to become a dove of peace.
This figure, which carries a swastika under its talons, was part of the Graf Spee, a sophisticated warship of the Third Reich that was sunk in the bay of Montevideo during a battle with British ships in 1939.According to President Lacalle Pou, the idea of transforming the figure into a symbol of peace and union, as is the dove, has been in his mind since before he assumed the presidency.
The new work will be in the hands of the artist Pablo Atchugarry, and it is proposed to place it at the mouth of the RÃo de la Plata, in the Atlantic.The process of rescuing the eagle took place in 2006, 67 years after the sinking. An expedition of a private Uruguayan company succeeded in recovering the bronze figure, which is 2.74 meters high and weighs 350 kilos.
Initially, it was planned to auction it, but the authorities of the time prevented it for fear of attracting Nazi sympathizers.The figure was exhibited in a hotel in Montevideo before being transferred to a military compound, where it is currently in the custody of the Uruguayan Navy.
Subsequently, the case was taken to court, and in June 2019, Judge Gabriela RodrÃguez Marichal ordered the Uruguayan state to sell the piece and share the proceeds equally with the businessmen who organized the rescue. However, recently, a court ruled that the figure is the property of the nation.
