Leo Varadkar has said Éamon de Valera was wrong to offer condolences following the death of Hitler.
In April 1945, with Soviet troops closing in on Berlin, the German Fuhrer took his life, rather than face the ignominy of capture and execution by the Allies.
A few days later, Taoiseach de Valera visited the German legation to commiserate with Minister Eduard Hempel, regarding it as a necessary courtesy given Ireland’s neutrality.
Even at the time, with the full horrors of the Holocaust not widely known, the visit caused outrage at home and abroad.
Speaking to Newstalk for the documentary In the Swastika’s Shadow: Ireland and the Holocaust, Leo Varadkar said his predecessor’s decision was a blunder that caused the State huge reputational damage.
“It certainly wasn’t necessary,” he said.
“Ireland was a neutral country but other neutral countries didn’t do so.
“And I think in fairness to him, he probably regretted it and didn’t get a lot of support for doing it, for obvious reasons.
“But I don’t think it represented any level of pro-Nazi feeling or antisemitism on his part.
“It’s worth noting that the 1937 Constitution, which was very much his Constitution, recognised the special place of the Jewish congregations in Irish life - something which was very much not on trend in Europe at the time.”
Taoiseach Éamon de Valera in 1932. Picture by: Alamy.com.Although de Valera’s behaviour was never raised with him personally during his time in Government, Mr Varadkar added that it is something Israelis are still aware of.
“I know it has cropped up in some of their briefings and in some conversations they’ve had with Ministers,” he said.
“It’s a sad thing in a way because I think it’s inauthentic, it’s an attempt to try and characterise de Valera as being antisemitic or pro-Nazi, which he wasn’t.”
A report in The Daily Express in September 1939, the day after World War II was declared. Picture by: Alamy.com.Mr Varadkar added that he thought Ireland had made a mistake by letting in only a small number of Jewish refugees, both before and after the Second World War.
Although many Jews applied, the vast majority of applications were rejected.
“I definitely think we should have taken more refugees,” he said.
“De Valera was instrumental in allowing about 100 or so war orphans to come to Ireland - but that was quite a small number, even relative to our population.
“Britain took a lot more and was probably in less of a position to do so, given the effects of the war there and the bombing campaign by the Luftwaffe.
“And it was something that I was conscious of when we had to make decisions about Ukraine - that historical parallel crossed my mind.
“What did Ireland do during the Second World War? Did we turn refugees away, we did - and I was determined that our response to the war in Ukraine would be different.”
Child survivors of the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. Picture by: AP Photo.Reflecting further on the parallels between the Second World War and Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Varadkar said he would not have offered condolences if Putin had died.
“I don’t know how long Putin’s going to live but I don’t imagine Taoiseach Martin or Taoiseach Harris would be doing that either,” he added.
You can listen back to the full documentary here:
Main image: Leo Varadkar, de Valera and Hitler. Pictures by: RollingNews.ie and Alamy.com.
