Memorandum from Joseph P. Walshe to Eamon de Valera (Dublin)

Taoiseach, Minister for External Affairs.¹
We had several times informed the British and American representatives here that the Irish Government were prepared, through the Red Cross, to provide a haven for a certain number of refugee children. The Red Cross Society were prepared to house at least five hundred children. We requested the German Government to allow five hundred refugee children (without specifying whether they were to be Jews or Christians) to come to Ireland from some distressed area in France. Our request was refused.² At various time[s] during the past year we approached the German Government to allow small groups of Jews to come to Ireland, or to allow our representative to give visas to certain Jews in order to allow them to reach Lisbon whence they would be taken to the United States or some other place of refuge. We had been informed by a Jewish organisation in London that the mere possession of a visa by a Jewish family in the occupied areas of Europe was a guarantee against deportation to Poland, and, although we were unable to discover that any neutral country had given such a visa, we again went to the German Government. The latter replied that we could not give visas to any Jews who had not relatives in Ireland.

The American Government, through Mr. Gray, now inform us that they accept with ‘deep appreciation the generous and humanitarian offer which the Irish Government is prepared to make to receive and provide haven for five hundred refugee children’. They anticipate that these five hundred children would be able to leave France and come to Ireland through Spain and Portugal. The American Government would provide the shipping space and they are considering the possibility of assisting the Irish Government in its humanitarian endeavour with respect to supplies of food and clothing. They ask us whether we are prepared to approach the Vichy Government in this matter. As a matter of fact, we had done so long since, but the Vichy Government declared itself powerless, as the question of leaving or entering France was a matter for the German authorities.

If you agree, ³ it might be a good thing to tell Mr. Gray immediately that we are, of course, ready, as we always had been, to receive five hundred refugee children at once, but that, having failed to secure permission for any children to leave France, we should be glad if the American Government would repeat the request to the German Government through the Protecting Power.

The American Government also ask us whether we should be willing to guarantee now the admission into Ireland after the war of an additional five hundred refugee Jewish children in the event of their being evacuated from France to Switzerland during the war. Such a guarantee, they say, would probably enable them to induce the Swiss Government to accept larger numbers of such children for the duration of hostilities. With regard to this second group of children (and, indeed, with regard to the first), we should naturally have to enquire how long they would be likely to be left on our hands.

The Executive Committee of the Red Cross have agreed to take the first group of five hundred Jewish refugee children. I have said nothing to them about the post-war group.

There is a great deal of pro-Jewish activity in Administration quarters in the United States at the present time. For example, they have recently encouraged the new Zionist movement in favour of the restoration of Palestine as the Jewish homeland. The British reviews suggest that this phase is due to the approaching Elections.