 Having argued that the saints of Ireland were disguised personifications of the tribes and political factions of Iron-age Ireland, he went on to suggest that the Old Testament could be the same for Jewish prehistory.In 1938 Butler was disgusted at the anti-Semitic comments in Ireland particularly those of Oliver J. Flanagan who in a statement to the Dáil said “They (the Jews) crucified our Saviour 1,900 years ago and they have been crucifying us every day of the week".In response to comments like this Butler wrote that “I was as Irish as Oliver Flanagan and I was determined that Jewish refugees should come to Ireland" He then traveled to Austria and the first people he saved were Erwin Strunz, his wife and two children, who he helped travel from Austria to Ireland.