A symbol of violence and war weighing 350 kilograms will be transformed into a symbol of peace and unity
Uruguayan President Luis Lacal Pou said the bronze eagle, which was found on a sunken World War II German destroyer 17 years ago, will be melted down and turned into a dove of peace.
“The 350-kilogram symbol of violence and war will be transformed into a symbol of peace and unity,” Pou said.
After years of legal battles with the salvage team, Uruguay announced that it will melt down the 660lb Nazi bronze eagle recovered from the wreck of the Graf Spee and recast it as a peace dove. A proposed sale was rejected to prevent the eagle from being bought by Nazi fanatics.pic.twitter.com/pGpOORnhtu
— U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute)June 17, 2023
The Uruguayan president said that the artist Pablo Achugari will make the dove and that the work will be finished by November.
A two-meter-high bird with a Nazi swastika in its claws stood on the bow of the ship “Admiral Graf Špe”. The ship’s captain, Hans Langsdord, sank the ship on December 17, 1939, after the conflict at the River Plate.
Court in Uruguay orders the government to sell a huge bronze Nazi eagle that was recovered off the country’s coast in 2006pic.twitter.com/G8qTMs6lpo
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow)June 22, 2019
The sculpture was found in 2006 after a ten-year search for the River Plate near Montevideo, reports Agence France-Presse.
During 2019, the court ruled that the sculpture must be sold, and that half of the proceeds will go to the authorities, and the other to the team that found the Nazi symbol.
(Srna)