Connections between Irish nuns in WW II resistance and the work of Standing Together

On Thursday 24^th of April citizens from Berlin and Donegal gathered in the community hall at the Franciscan Friary in Rossnowlagh, Donegal to commemorate 5 Irish women who were in the resistance against the nazis in World War II. These women were betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women. Four of them were liberated by the Red Cross exactly 80 years ago, at the end of April 1945 (together with 7,500 other women.

There was a unique mix of music, literature and poetry. La Voix mixte travelled  from Berlin to perform at this event and a choral evening with the Donegal Abbey Singers in Donegal town on the 25^th April. These choirs sang for peace and justice and their repertoire included an original composition to the words of Seamus Heaney on Hope and History by Uta Schlegel. Cathy Fleming read from her biography of Sister Kate Mc Carthy.  Winifred Mc Nulty, Donegal poet, read some information about Catherine Crean, Sister Kate Mc Carthy, Sister Agnes Flanagan Mary O’ Shaughnessy, and Mary Cummins whose names and details can now be found on the Irish Embassy website following a similar event in the Irish Embassy in Berlin. Margo Gorman shared her thoughts about the connection between these women and the struggles of ordinary people in Israel and Palestine for peace and justice today. www.standing-together.org.

Why commemorate 5 women out of the millions who had suffered during these times?

They were living and working as nuns, nannies and nurses in France or Belgium at the time of the invasion of the German troops. Ordinary people like us, the crowd in the hall in Rossnowlagh. They wanted to do something and used their skills and abilities to help Allied soldiers to get out of the occupied territory. In doing so they risked their own lives.

We are living in times of disruption, destruction and polarization. We often feel alone and powerless in regard to what is happening in the world and around us. Faced with despair and chaos, we need communication and connection between ordinary people like us and a sense of good things we can do.

Margo Gorman and Hans-Georg Rennert, an Irish-German couple (both with a background in Community work) and the main organizers of the event last Thursday are impressed by the work of Standing Together, a grassroots initiative that mobilizes Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the war and occupation, advocating FOR peace, equality and social justice. As Helen Yakoub, a 29 years old Palestinian activist says: “It turns fear into clarity, anger into action, loneliness into something communal.”

Margo and Hans-Georg invited the attendees to donate for the work of Standing Together. 350 Euros were collected and donated to Standing Together. As the organisation writes (in a newsletter dating from 11^th April): “Hope is not something we wait for, hope is something we build through collective action.” #gazaceasfuew #human rights

Margo Gorman and Hans-Georg Rennert, 27^th April 2025