Learning from the past ~ lessons for today - Holocaust Education ...

Holocaust Memorial Day 2009
member from Kerry. He had spent the previous several
years working as a driver for a German officer. The pair left
Germany for Ireland in December 1943. O’Reilly was
dropped from a plane over his native Kilkee, County Clare,
but suspicious locals forced him to turn himself in to the
gardaí a few days later. Shortly after O’Reilly was taken into
custody, Kenny parachuted into the same area, but was
badly hurt in a poor landing. He was found in the early
hours of the morning by a local farmer, who alerted the
gardaí. The two were held in Arbour Hill Prison, Dublin,
from where O’Reilly escaped in 1944. He made his way
back to Kilkee, but his father soon turned him in and
collected a substantial reward. Both he and Kenny were
held in Arbour Hill until the end of the war.
In March 1944 Stringer and Brady were selected for SS
Jager Battailon 502 and then Jagdverband Mitte, both
commanded by Otto Skorzeny, who had effected
Mussolini’s escape from prison several months previously.
(Skorzeny, in fact, would eventually spend the years
1959–1969 in Ireland, even buying a farm in County
Kildare.) These units were involved in the events following
the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944, the kidnap
of the son of the Hungarian regent, Admiral Horthy, who
had been conspiring with the Russians, as well as forays
behind American lines using American uniforms.
In early 1945, Jagdverband Mitte was deployed to help stop
the Red Army crossing the river Oder and entering the
German heartland. Under intense fire from the Russians, it
was eventually overcome. Brady was injured; Stringer
claimed he had not been fighting, but it is unclear whether
that was indeed the case.
When the Russians finally reached Berlin Brady took part
in the battle for the city. He was wounded in the legs and
again hospitalised. Stringer, still with Jagdverband Mitte,
was withdrawn to the mountains of the Tyrol. After the
German surrender he made his way to Brussels, where he
gave himself up. He was court-martialled in April 1946; he
escaped the death sentence but received a fourteen-year
prison sentence, remitted to eight – of which he served
only four, in Wormwood Scrubs prison.
Brady was put to work in an Allied POW camp at Luneville
and due to be repatriated to Germany, but escaped early in
1946. He finally turned himself in in Berlin and was tried
by court-martial in December. He too was found guilty and
sentenced to fifteen years, remitted to twelve. He may also
have been released in 1950.
John Codd had been living in Lehnitz, the location of the
SS radio school he had attended, at the end of the war. He
and his German wife, under a cover story, were able to
make their way back to Ireland. He was known to the Irish
military intelligence service and was taken into custody
but later released.
Hitler’s spies
The National Socialist party in Germany had branches in
all countries where there were German party members.
Ireland was no exception. Its branch of the Auslands-
Organisation – the overseas department of the Nazi party
– was set up in 1934.
The group met in a German social club behind the Court
Laundry in Dublin’s Harcourt Street. Its membership was
small, being limited to members who still held a German
passport, and included several prominent figures in Irish
society: Heinz Mecking, manager of the Turf Development
Board, Otto August Reinhardt, who worked in the
Department of Lands, and Adolf Mahr, who became
Director of the National Museum of Ireland.In general,
German spies in Ireland were not very successful. It has
been suggested that they were deliberately chosen to fail
by Admiral Canaris, head of the Abwehr, who secretly
worked against the Nazi régime after 1938. One spy, for
example, was an Indian, whose conspicuous appearance
immediately attracted police attention and he was soon
arrested. Most other agents were quickly rounded up after
their arrival in the country. They were held at Athlone
Barracks, County Westmeath.
The so-called ‘master spy’, Hermann Görtz, parachuted
into Ireland at Ballivor, County Meath, wearing a Luftwaffe
uniform and military medals from the First World War. As
well as gathering information on Ireland’s defence
infrastructure, Görtz was in part responsible for fostering
the abortive links between Germany and the IRA.
Brought in after being observed by G2 for 18 months, Görtz
apparently lost his reason in custody. After his release,
terrified of being captured by the Soviets after being sent
home, he committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide
tablet.
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