The Holocaust · Ireland · 1933 to 1945

Ireland remained outside Nazi occupation. Restrictive refuge and the murder of people with Irish connections link its history to the Holocaust in continental Europe.

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1933 to 1945

The Holocaust · Neutrality could not protect relatives abroad

Ireland remained outside Nazi occupation. Restrictive refuge and the murder of people with Irish connections link its history to the Holocaust in continental Europe.

Concentration camps imprisoned people under brutal conditions, often with forced labor. Extermination camps were built for systematic mass murder. Auschwitz-Birkenau combined both functions.

Supporters challenge restrictive entry rules

From 1933, Jewish community leaders including Isaac Herzog and Robert Briscoe appealed for people fleeing Nazi persecution to be admitted. Many requests failed, although some refugees reached Ireland and established businesses. The Irish Jewish Museum records both the restrictions and efforts to overcome them. Wartime neutrality did not guarantee refuge for those who needed permission to enter.

Ettie Steinberg's family is trapped in France

Ettie Steinberg grew up in Dublin and married Wojteck Gluck there in 1937. They moved to continental Europe, where their son Leon was born. After fleeing between places, the family was arrested in France in 1942 and detained at Drancy transit camp. Family ties to Ireland did not protect them from Nazi persecution overseas.

Visas arrive after the family is taken

Relatives in Dublin obtained visas that would have allowed the Gluck family to travel to Northern Ireland, under UK jurisdiction. The visas arrived in Toulouse after the family had been captured. Ettie, Wojteck and Leon were deported from Drancy on 2 September 1942 and murdered at Auschwitz two days later. A planned route to safety could close before the papers arrived.