Sir, – The “Shoah in Europe” exhibition in the Department of Justice should be viewed by the Irish public as yet another reminder of Ireland’s shameful neglect of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust both during the war years and in the immediate aftermath of the atrocities.
Of the approximately 23,000 “Righteous among the Nations” (non-Jews who put themselves at risk to save Jews) there is not one single Irish person. The Irish State had an opportunity to help Jews and other dispossessed people by granting them leave to settle in Ireland and failed to do so for economic reasons. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Further to the article “Shatter opens Holocaust museum” (Home News, January 24th). Later this year a memorial will be erected in Killarney to an Irishman, Msgr Hugh O’Flaherty who saved thousands of Jews in Rome from the Nazis during the war. The monsignor worked with the consent of Pope Pius XII who himself authorised convents and religious houses in Rome to shelter and save countless numbers of Jews. It has been verified by reputable Jewish historians that more than 800,000 Jews in Europe were saved by the intervention of Pope Pius through his diplomatic representatives in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.
The Irish ambassador in the Vatican Dr J Kiernan and his wife Delia helped Msgr O’Flaherty in his great humanitarian work. How fortunate that we had an Irish ambassador in the Vatican during the war years. – Yours, etc,