Extract from a letter from Leopold H. Kerney to Joseph P. Walshe (Dublin)
(SPC 19/4)

Death of Hitler

Hitler's presumed death was reported in the Madrid press on the morning of Wednesday, 2nd May; his position as head of a State with which we maintained diplomatic relations appeared to warrant a somewhat similar atti- tude on my part to that observed on a recent comparable occasion, but I decided to act in the same manner as the Swiss Minister who, as you know, takes precedence over me. I telephoned him and ascertained that he was in touch with the Nuncio and the Foreign Office and that nothing was decided yet; subsequently, he telephoned back asking me not to do anything the same day, pointing out that it was advisable to have confirmation of the news of the death, in which case a personal visit to the Embassy would be a matter of courtesy as between accredited heads of missions, but that, as there was no Ambassador and only a Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, such a step might not be 'indiqué'; he promised to telephone me again the next morning.

On Thursday, 3rd May, the Swiss Minister telephoned at 12.15 p.m. to say that he was going to the Foreign Office to see the Marques de Miraflores, head of Lequerica's cabinet, with a view to ascertaining whether the news of Hitler 's death was definite before taking further action

At 1 p.m. the Swiss Minister again telephoned to say that it had been decided that the proper course would be to leave cards at the Embassy but to do so personally, and he added, as a piece of confidential information, that Lequerica intended to make a personal call at 5 p.m.; and yet he was of opinion that a similar personal visit to the Chargé d'Affaires by us was not necessary.

At 1.15 p.m. I called at the German Embassy; at the entrance there were large numbers of sympathisers waiting their turn to sign their names at one or other of the three tables prepared for the purpose; as I entered the Embassy I was recognised by a messenger who asked me if I wished to see Freiherr von der Heyden-Rynsch, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim; I was at once ushered in to latter 's office; I expressed sympathy and made this applicable also to the German people as a whole, stating that Ireland's sympathies always went out to those who suffered; he told me that 'de Valera had called on the German Minister that morning' (though I suppose the visit was really made the previous day); I asked him how he knew, and he said the news came in a Reuter despatch, tapping a closed despatch box on his desk.

On Friday, 4th May, I received a letter from the Chargé d'Affaires a.i. thanking me for my visit of sympathy, the body of the letter being as follows:

'I would not like to refrain from assuring Your Excellency how much I have been moved by this proof of condolence, for which allow me to express my deepest gratitude. I know the admiration always felt by the Führer for Ireland and her history and I am sure that his death for the liberty of his people will be also understood by the Irish people.'

Neither the letter nor the envelope had a mourning border; the letter was written in Spanish, although any communications from the German Embassy hitherto have usually been in German.

There was no question of half-masting the flag at the Legation as there was no announcement of the date of burial, as in the case of Roosevelt, and the customary period of mourning could not therefore be observed.

The Spanish flag was not half-masted at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The Madrid press did not make the slightest allusion to the visit of condolence paid by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Chargé d'Affaires of the German Embassy at 5 p.m. on 4th May; after Roosevelt's death a similar visit to the American Ambassador was given much prominence in the press.

'El Peublo' of Thursday evening, 3rd May, published an Efe report, repeated in the following day's press, dated from Dublin, saying that 'the head of the Government, de Valera, had personally called on the German Minister to express his sympathy for the death of Hitler '.

[matter omitted]