Letter: A sad and must-see film about the murder of Thomas Niedermayer - who fell into the hands of top Provisional IRA gangsters

By Letters
Published 26th Aug 2023, 00:30 BST
Updated 26th Aug 2023, 01:06 BST
Thomas Niedermayer with wife Ingeborg and children Renate and Gabriele. The new documentary 'Face Down' tells the story of Niedermayer, the German boss of the Belfast Grundig factory whose fate was to be buried face down in Colin GlenThomas Niedermayer with wife Ingeborg and children Renate and Gabriele. The new documentary 'Face Down' tells the story of Niedermayer, the German boss of the Belfast Grundig factory whose fate was to be buried face down in Colin Glen
Thomas Niedermayer with wife Ingeborg and children Renate and Gabriele. The new documentary 'Face Down' tells the story of Niedermayer, the German boss of the Belfast Grundig factory whose fate was to be buried face down in Colin Glen
A letter from Clifford Smyth:

My wife, Anne, and I took the advice of Ben Lowry( Click here ‘An outstanding documentary about a wicked IRA murder,’ August 19)and went to see the deeply sad and affecting , Niedermayer film in the Queen’s Film Theatre. The story of an outsider who only desired the common good for all the people of Northern Ireland.

Thomas Niedermayer fell into the unspeakably cruel hands of some of the Provisional IRA's top gangsters. Murdered ,while resisting his abducters, his fate was to be buried face down in Colin Glen. Why is there no memorial to Thomas Niedermayer in Colin Glen, is he not deserving of one?

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Although ‘Face Down’ is not a political film, it carries a very strong political after-shock, specifically, that the German industrialist was a martyr to the Consent Principle. The alternative is to live under the cult of death of the Provisional IRA.

Like Ben Lowry, I urge you to go and watch ‘Face Down’ at the QFT (the run has been extended until Thursday coming).

Dr Clifford Smyth, Belfast BT6

Related topics:Ben LowryNorthern Ireland