Hitler’s Irish Slaves tells the shocking story of 32 merchant seamen from Ireland who were held in conditions of great hardship in an SS slave labour camp from 1943 to 1945. Mercilessly punished for their refusal to join the German war effort, and ignored by their own government, they became part of a slave workforce that was used to construct an immense bunker.

The Nazis believed that they could build a ‘miracle boat’ in this bunker: a new type of U-boat that could win the war for Germany. To achieve that goal, many thousands of slaves were worked to their deaths.Despite the savage regime to which they were subjected, and unlike some other Irishmen, they steadfastly refused all attempts by the SS to turn them into collaborators with the Third Reich.

In this engrossing and dramatic book, David Blake Knox explores the fascinating and tragic story of the hardship endured by these men, as well as the reasons why that narrative, like the men themselves, has been unjustly neglected.

Previously published as Suddenly While Abroad .