Holocaust Memorial Day: UNISON Renfrewshire remembers Jane Haining

Holocaust Memorial Day is Monday 27 January and UNISON Renfrewshire will be remembering the only Scot who died in a Nazi concentration camp – Jane Haining. In 1932, she responded to an advert in the Church of Scotland magazine for the position of a matron at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest. When Germany annexed Austria in 1937, Budapest became a major destination for Jewish people fleeing the Nazis. Jane and the Scottish Mission did vital work saving Jewish refugees by helping them emigrate to safety – by February 1939 it was running courses in farming, cattle breeding and any other subjects that would help refugees get jobs abroad. Jane was visiting home in Scotland when Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Despite all warnings from the Church of Scotland for foreign missionaries to return home, Jane went back to Budapest and the Mission. She said: “If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness?’.” In 1944, Germany took possession of Hungary and the Nazis controlled Budapest. Life became immensely difficult and many Jews were immediately transported to forced labour camps or to their deaths. In April 1944, the Gestapo arrived at the Mission and arrested Jane for harbouring more than 400 children, the majority of whom were Jewish orphans, and took her to Auschwitz, where she died three months later aged 47. UNISON Renfrewshire branch secretary Mark Ferguson said: “The memorial work we’ve done over the past fe...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article holocaust memorial day Scotland Source Type: news