The Church did not turn its back on the Jews
CONGRATULATIONS to Pope Francis for highlighting the criminal negligence of the Allies in wantonly abandoning the Jewish people to the evil clutches of the Nazis. Contrary to the assertion of Prof. Anthony Glees (Mail, June 23) it is common knowledge that the rescue of the Jewish people was way down the list of the Allies priorities and that given the isolated locations of most of the concentration camps it would have been very feasible to bomb the railway lines leading to the camps.
The situation is actually even more sinister.
As has been recently reported by the Daily Telegraph’s David Blair, the Allies were made absolutely aware of what was happening in the camps by the Polish resistance and others.
Despite this knowledge, they totally abandoned efforts to assist and formalised this policy at the Bermuda Conference of 1943.
This abandonment led the leader of the Polish Government in exile, Szmul Zygielbojn, to commit suicide, in a vain effort to shame the Allies into action.
Compare and contrast this policy with that of the Catholic Church. The l ate historian Sir Martin Gilbert (who was Jewish) in his book The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of The Holocaust, recounts the achievements of the extraordinary Catholics who, under the leadership of Pope Pius XII, rescued Jews at great peril to themselves and to their Church throughout Nazioccupied Europe.
Gilbert estimates that the Church saved up to half a million Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Ireland’s own Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty played a prominent role in this noble work. Castel Gandolfo itself was
used to give refuge to hundreds of people.
I’m not aware that the White House, 10 Downing Street or Stalin’s opulent residence opened their doors in such a magnificent manner. Of course, individual Catholics may not have been so brave, but the Church emerges with infinitely more credit from this sorry saga than do the US, UK and USSR Allies.
Such was the poisonous hatred/ jealousy of the Soviets that they did all in their power after the war to discredit Pope Pius. Thankfully most intelligent Jewish people saw through this, and the Pope was lauded by such distinguished people as Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann (Israel’s first President).
ERIC CONWAY, Navan, Co. Meath.
Listen to the UN
THIS week the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published its concluding observations on Ireland, finding the Government is failing to deliver on its human rights obligations in areas including housing, social security,
healthcare and education. Ireland’s latest review by UN human rights experts may not tell us anything new, but it has drawn attention to very serious i ssues affecting thousands of families across the country.
Among its 45 recommendations, the UN Committee has called on the Government to restore public services (including health and education) and social benefits to pre-crisis levels; build more social housing units, increase rent supplement levels and ensure it is effectively responding to those facing homelessness; and eliminate the ‘discriminatory impact on access to social security benefits’ for vulnerable groups, including Roma families and those living in direct provision.
The committee has also called on the Government to expand the availability of affordable public childcare services and ensure that all children can access education without discrimination.
This means reversing austerity cuts to payments like the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance for low income families, supporting Traveller children to complete education and more generally ensuring supports are in place so all children can access quality education on an equal footing.
Barnardos, alongside many other Irish NGOs, has long called for the reversal of austerity cuts and policies which are unfairly affecting Ireland’s most vulnerable people.
The UN committee hearings and conclusions are proof that in the eyes of international human rights experts the Government is failing its most vulnerable citizens.
As we approach the anniversary of the 1916 Proclamation and its promise to cherish ‘all children of the nation equally’, the Government has a real opportunity to create a fairer, more equitable Ireland if it acts on the committee’s recommendations. We sincerely hope it grasps this opportunity with energy and determination.
JUNE TINSLEY, Head of Advocacy, Barnardos.
Who cares about elderly?
ELDERLY are €14 a week poorer than they were before austerity budgets (Mail, June 23).
Age Action mentions abolition of their telephone allowance, fuel allowance Christmas bonus, electricity portion of the household benefit package all cut.
If one looks closer than that you will see that the pensioners are worse off than the €14 mentioned as they also have to pay the €8,000 in stealth taxes that we were all burdened with.
If it had just been the €14 men- tioned I reckon that they would be able to eat a lot more instead of having to skip meals to be able to heat their homes or pay their bills.
Nobody seems to care about the pensioners especially Enda Kenny and Joan Burton and this Government. A meal has now become a luxury for a pensioner.
DAVID BURKE, Gorey, Co. Wexford.
Collins and the British
WHILE dandering through the huge Motor Vintage display, on Saturday last at Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor, I was pleasantly surprised to see a very special armoured car on display there. This was one of the 13 in the ‘Sliabh na mBan’ military range.
It formed part of the Free State Convoy at Béal na Bláth on 22 August 1922, when Michael Collins was ambushed a nd fatally wounded.
This event was the vehicle’s first and only adventure into the North. This spectacle causes me to pose the question: did Michael Collins follow in the footsteps of Dermot McMurragh by inviting a foreign army to act on Irish soil?
When during the Civil War, the British gunboats shelled the Four Courts from the Liffey, was each vessel operated by those with the necessary specialised expertise – namely British soldiers?
Perhaps some enlightened historian can explain this riddle. DENIS O’HIGGINS,
Monaghan.