Posted on 05/07/2013 9:29:25 AM PDT by llevrok
DUBLIN — The Irish government said Tuesday it is pardoning nearly 5,000 men who deserted its armed forces to fight for Britain during World War II, an episode of history that brought shame and embarrassment to neutral Ireland.
snip
Shatter said the Second World War Amnesty and Immunity Bill was long overdue because barely 100 of the war veterans are still alive. The bill describes their 1945 punishments as "unduly harsh" and ensures that no surviving deserter could face a court-martial if returning to Ireland from exile abroad.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
The Irish only holding a grudge for 68 years? They’re slipping.
unlike you ...
Ping.
It was absolutely shameful that the Irish were complicit with or even rooting for the Nazis out of their virulent hatred for the English.
A lot of Americans were rooting for the Nazis out of their love of the Rooskies.
here is some of Ireland’s finest:
Ireland ‘welcomed Hitler’s henchmen’
By Tom Peterkin, Ireland Correspondent
12:01AM GMT 09 Jan 2007
A disturbing aspect of Ireland’s history has been uncovered by research finding that leading Nazis were sheltered and welcomed by the Irish establishment after the war.
A rogues’ gallery that included fascists, Nazi collaborators and war criminals came to Ireland, including some who flourished and became respected members of the community.
A documentary to be screened on Irish television tonight illustrates growing willingness amongst mainstream public opinion to face up to Ireland’s role in providing a haven for war criminals.
In the past, there has been a tendency to overlook stories of Hitler’s henchmen being protected while they made their homes in Ireland or using it as a staging post to escape to America.
“It is very interesting that there is now much more willingness to raise these issues about those sections of the Irish population, who were sympathetic to the Nazi cause,” said Paul Bew, Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Joseph Kennedy Sr. , Henry Ford ....
I had no idea the Irish Republic was neutral in WWII.
Our US policy makers were still undecided whether to support the Nazis or the Soviets even as late as Stalingrad.....when the Soviets started gaining an advantage that was when the US finally committed to the second front to help the USSR
And...the Irish took in a lot of refugees...esp children....from war ravaged areas. They were not all Nazi collaborators or Quislings
To be fair, a lot of Irish (about 50,000) volunteered for the British army and served with distinction.
(These were not deserters who were already in the Irish forces.)
About a quarter million Irish worked in England in the defense industry.
That said, hatred of Britain (sometimes justified) resulted in
a rather opaque view of the reality of Nazism—and meant that Irish help in the war against the Nazis (not the war for Britain)
was somewhat less than it could (and imho should) have been.
What in the Wide Wide World of Sports are you talking about??? American troops stormed the beaches of North Africa days before the Russian winter offensive began in November 1943. This followed months of preparation stemming from the Arcadia Conference in Washington in December 1941 during which Roosevelt and Churchill agreed the first priority would be the defeat of the Nazis in Europe and the second priority the defeat of Japan.
You need to brush up on your World War II history. You might want to start with the Lend-Lease Act (January 1941) and then read the U.S. declaration of war against Germany (December 11, 1941).
March 11th 1941.
“Our US policy makers were still undecided whether to support the Nazis or the Soviets even as late as Stalingrad.....”
Say what? The US was at war with Germany 8 months before anyone ever heard of Stalingrad.What US policy makers were considering supporting the Nazis?
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