Neither fascism nor saving the Jews was Britain’s aim

PAT MULDOWNEY quite rightly points out that Britain did not go to war to defeat fascism (Letters, Sept 5).

Churchill himself admitted as much in a famous exchange with one of his generals, who bridled at returning the Cossacks to Stalin.

The general argued that Britain had gone to war because of the sort of atrocity which certainly faced the returned Cossacks.

Churchill did not argue (as he could have) that the Cossacks voluntarily sided with Hitler and deserved their fate. Instead, he called the general a fool for not understanding that Britain had not gone to war to restore the balance of power in Europe, and for no other reason.

There is a subtle rewriting of history that suggests the Allies were trying to save the Jews.

In fact, the Allies made no attempt to disrupt the railways on which the camps depended.

There is evidence that news of the camps was deliberately downplayed by the British government because it feared anti-Semitic sentiment would weaken the war effort if the truth were more generally known.

We owe Britain a lot for its stance against Hitler, just as we owe a debt to the old Soviet Union. But no debt can obligate us to lie about the historical facts.

Tim O’Halloran

23 Ferndale Rd

Dublin 11