Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl’s notorious film Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) was already controversial when it was released in 1935.
A showing of it at the Olympia Theatre in Dame Street at the time became so controversial that the theatre owners were warned not to keep the film there overnight.
Instead, it was taken under Garda escort from the theatre back to the German Legation where it remained overnight before being screened on Sunday, October 27th in front of a crowd of about 200 people. A second film, Hitlerjunge Quex, was also shown.
Among those present was Joseph Connolly, minister for Lands and Fisheries, along with the German, French, Polish and Belgian counsels.
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Department of Justice files in the National Archives reveal that gardaí feared communists in Ireland would target the film’s screening.
Though there was a heavy Garda presence inside and outside the theatre, the screening of the two films passed off without incident.
