A FILM BY ANNA SCHMIDT
In the autumn of 1945, Ireland launched a unique relief operation that saved over 1,000 children from war-torn areas in France, Germany, and Austria from starvation. The children stayed with Irish host families for up to three years before returning home; some stayed forever. The film tells the unknown story of “Operation Shamrock,” which had unforeseen consequences for the children. Five of them remember.
For the film, 250 former children from Germany and France were located who came to Ireland with “Operation Shamrock.” This process took approximately 3 years. Research was conducted in the archives of the Irish Red Cross, the German Embassy in Ireland, the French Red Cross, and the German Red Cross, as well as in the newspaper archives of the National Library in Dublin. In July and August 2001, Anna Schmidt traveled to Ireland to conduct 5 months of on-site research. The story of the child rescue operation was told publicly for the first time.
Filming took place in February 2002 and in July and August 2002 in Ireland, France, and Germany.
