Book Review: Suddenly, While Abroad: Hitler's Irish Slaves

Archives

by David Blake Knox

Dublin: New Island Press/Portland, Or.: International Specialized Book Services, 2012. Pp. x, 316. Illus., notes. $29.99 paper. ISBN: 1848402007

Irish Sailors in Hitler’s Web

Among the millions of people who suffered at the hands of the Hiterite regime were 32 Irish citizens, and their experiences offer unique insights into the brutalities of the Nazi horror. Merchant seamen captured when their ships were captured or sunk, most of these men ended up doing forced labor, a small contingent among the vast horde of slaves put to work to prolong the Hitlerite Reich. Several of these men did not survive the privations, beatings, hunger, and disease. 

By chance, Knox, an Irish-born television and film executive, stumbled upon the story of these men, one of whom was his cousin, and that led to this book. Knox not only gives us a well written account of the experiences of these men, but adds some interesting asides (e.g., the Irish nationalists who sought aid from Germany against England, the surprising number of men from the Irish Free State who enlisted in the British armed forces, etc). 

Focused on the fate of fewer than three dozen men, Suddenly, While Abroad nevertheless is a valuable contribution to the literature of the Nazi horror, and serves to remind us that all of the millions of others who suffered were just ordinary people.

---///---

Reviewer: A.A. Nofi, Review Editor   


Buy it at Amazon.com

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close