De Valera's Condolences for Hitler's Death

De Valera's Condolences for Hitler's Death

May 3, 1945

1945

The Irish Times

The above newspaper article from the Irish Times represents a major controversy involving Ireland shortly after Hitler’s death. De Valera, despite his vow of neutrality throughout the war, he went to the German Legation to offer condolences for Hitler’s death. This was confusing for many people, especially with all of the negativity surrounding Hitler and the Nazi party. De Valera received an overwhelming amount of worldwide media attention. The United States newspapers gave him a very hard time about his visit with the Germans. Many could associate with a letter written by Angela Walsh from New York, “Have you seen the motion pictures of the victims of German concentration camps, de Valera? Have you seen the crematoriums? Have you seen the bodies of little children murdered by Nazi hands? […] Have you seen the living dead, de Valera? Skin stretched over bone, and too weak to walk?” However, De Valera said that he was just being diplomatic. “I could have had a diplomatic illness but, as you know, I would scorn that sort of thing…So long as we retained our diplomatic relations with Germany, to have failed to call upon the German representative would have been an act of unpardonable discourtesy to the German nation and to Dr Hempel himself. During the whole of the war, Dr Hempel’s conduct was irreproachable. He was always friendly and invariably correct—in marked contrast with Gray. I certainly was not going to add to his humiliation in the hour of defeat.” It’s understandable why the actions of De Valera caused such uproar, but one must always try to look at things from that “diplomatic” attitude.

English

Article from a newspaper (the Irish Times)

Unknown. "Herr Hitler's Death: Callers at German Legation." The Irish Times, May 03, 1945. (markhumphrys.com)

Keogh, Dermot. "De Valera, Hitler, and the Visit of Condolence May 1945." History Ireland 5, no. 3 (1997) Accessed 25 Feb 2014. http://www.historyireland.com

Keogh, Dermot. Twentieth-Century Ireland. New York, N.Y.: St. Martins, 1994.

War

The Irish Times

Kelsie Cagle

Newspaper article