The first of two documentaries by Gerry Mullins about the 1932 to 1939 correspondences between Dr Adolf Mahr, the great Nazi archaeologist based for some years in Dublin, and his Jewish friend, philanthropist Albert Bender.

The Albert Bender archive at Mills College near San Francisco reveals a life of a remarkable grace and generosity. Bender was an Irish Jew who became California's greatest patron of the arts in the 1920s and 1930s. The son of Rabbi Dr Philip Bender, he left Dublin for San Francisco in 1882, aged 16. He made his fortune in insurance, and never married, instead pouring his considerable resources into supporting artists and institutions of learning.

Bender's most prolific corespondent was a most unlikely one: Adolf Mahr, director of the National Museum of Ireland, who wrote over 100 letters between 1922 and the outbreak of war in 1939. At first the letters were related to Bender's donations to the National Museum, but by the mid-1930s, Mahr's messages were purely personal, referring to family illness, gifts and hopes for a personal meeting.

What makes the correspondence remarkable is that Mahr co-founded the Irish branch of Hitler's National Socialist Party in 1934, and served as its leader until his abrupt departure to Germany shortly before World War II. Although Bender was aware of Mahr's Jewish heritage, he wasn't to know that his correspondent was a follower of the Furher and would later describe himself as "Dublin's Nazi No. 1."

The second documentary in this two-part series, entitled The Mahrs of Dublin, can be heard by clicking here

(First Broadcast 2001)

Produced by Lorelei Harris

First broadcast

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries.