Condolences Offered After Hitler’s Death

Ireland’s president during World War II offered condolences to Germany over the 1945 death of Adolf Hitler, newly declassified government records show.

Historians had believed that Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera was the only leader to convey official condolences to Eduard Hempel, the top German envoy in Ireland.

The presidential protocol record for 1938-57, made public this week, confirms that President Douglas Hyde visited Hempel. Hyde apparently said he did not send an official letter of condolence to the German government because “the capital of Germany, Berlin, was under siege and no successor had been appointed.”