The festive retirement of important Nazi criminals who today rest in Dénia

It is well known that Dénia welcomed several of the criminals who fled to avoid prosecution after the fall of the Nazi dictatorship. And not only our municipality or the Levantine coast, but there were many points in Spain that chose Hitler's ex-officers to hide from justice. Therefore, it is normal that among the graves of the neighbors of many villages can be found the remains of those responsible for authentic atrocities.

The Twitter user @Albersicambias has made a thread collecting several photographs and stories of cemeteries where the fled Nazis rest. Among them, the presence of Dénia stands out, in which he emphasizes the sympathy that processed these neighbors for years with such a bloody past.

Gerhard Bremer: the criminal that the City Council tried to bury with honors

One of these criminals was the former Waffen-SS officer Gerhard Bremer, who participated in the Nazi invasion of Poland. After serving several years in prison, in 1954 he moved to Dénia with his wife and created a luxury resort called the Bremers Park Bungalows, where, according to the author of the thread, he organized spectacular parties full of dianenses and German personalities. "Even the municipal band participated in them, he wore his SS uniform.", comments @Albersicambias. Apparently, these parties took place until 1980.

After his death, in 1989, he was buried in Dénia at a funeral that the City Council tried to do with honors, according to the author. The mayor at the time would have proposed to the municipal band to play in said act of honor, which refused to participate.

Anton Galler: responsible for the shooting of 560 people (adults and children)

Also among the tombstones is the Hauptsturmführer Anton Galler, the main responsible for the Santa Ana de Stazzema Massacre. On August 12 of 1944, in the Italian town of Stazzema, Galler led the execution after surrounding 560 in the town square, mostly women and children.

A bureaucratic error allowed him to flee to Dénia, where he quietly rested without being retaliated against for the atrocities committed until 1995, being buried in the cemetery along with the rest of the Dianenses.

In October of 2021 premiered in cinemas throughout Spain The substitute, a film by Óscar Aibar based on the events recounted here.