- Culture
- 08 Nov 17
On TV tonight is the televised premiere of a new documentary about one of the forgotten heroes of the Second World War, Mary Elmes, which is narrated by actor, Winona Ryder.
Born in Cork, Elmes was responsible for transporting approximately 200 Jewish children to Spain during the Holocaust.
A student of Trinity College, who went on to join the University of London Ambulance Unit, before being sent to Spain amidst its civil war, she would eventually move to France as the Nazi party began to enact its Final Solution.
Smuggling children out of the death camps, for her efforts she was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and imprisoned for six months. However, her story was overlooked entirely until the 21st Century.
Passing away in 2002, Elmes remarkable life has since become the subject of two recent books, A Time to Risk All by Irish Examiner reporter Clodagh Finn, which Hot Press calls "a first-class piece of history reportage" and The Extraordinary Life of Mary Elmes by Paddy Butler
Now, the much anticipated documentary, It Tolls For Thee will air tonight after it gained much acclaim on the film festival circuit in the past few months.
It Tolls For THee is on TG4 at 21.30.