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Missionary who saved Jewish children to be honoured
Ms Haining was arrested by the Nazis in 1944 and charged with working with Jews and taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she died aged 47.
August 13, 2017 07:57
Ms Haining was arrested by the Nazis in 1944 and charged with working with Jews and taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she died aged 47.
August 13, 2017 07:57A Church of Scotland missionary who died trying to protect Jewish schoolgirls during the Holocaust is to be honoured for her bravery.
Jane Haining was a matron at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest during the Second World War.
She was told by church officials to leave Budapest and return to Scotland but she refused, arguing, 'If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness?’”
Ms Haining was arrested by the Nazis in 1944 and charged with working with Jews and taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she died aged 47.
Her story of bravery is to become part of an exhibition in the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Budapest, Hungary.
Zoltan Toth-Heinmann, spokesperson for the memorial centre, said the missionary, who grew up in Dunscore, near Dumfries, was a "unique and important" figure.
Mr Toth-Heinmann, who travelled to Scotland this week as part of research for the exhibition, said it would open in the autumn.
He spent time in Scotland visiting Queen's Park Church in Glasgow, where she worshipped, before moving to Budapest in 1932.
He said her story had been "neglected" by the city she had chosen to make her home.
Mr Toth-Heinmann said: "Jane Haining's story is an important part of the Holocaust history in Budapest, and sometimes, for the general public, it might be neglected.
"She was unique because all the other players - rescuers, victims and perpetrators - were local people.
"She was the only one who had the chance to choose if she would stay there and risk her life to save children, or just leave and return to Scotland."
Mr Toth-Heinmann added: "The primary objective will be the education of young people so they can learn that sometimes it is important to make a sacrifice.
"We have various items relating to her life - artefacts, photographs and documents -which will, along with testimonies from some of her former pupils, bring her story closer to visitors."
Rev Ian Alexander, secretary of the Church of Scotland World Mission Council, said: "Jane Haining's story is heart-breaking, but also truly inspirational.
"Scottish missionaries were advised to return home from Europe during the dark days of the Second World War, but Jane declined."
Another memorial to mark her bravery is being created inside Dunscore Parish Church.
It will tell the story of Ms Haining.
Matthew Aitken, is one of the team behind the project, he said: "It is going to be amazing and so many people from the church and the local community have been involved.
"Jane Haining's story is just incredible.
"It is hard to put into words what she did and what she experienced.
"We hope that people come and see the material that we have and learn about her story for themselves."
It is expected to open in October.
Ms Haining has also received a posthumous honour from the UK Government for "preserving life in the face of persecution".
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