Jane Haining
Encyclopedia
Jane Haining was a Church of Scotland
missionary
. She worked in Budapest
, where she was arrested by the Nazis
in 1944. She died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz later that year.
, Dumfriesshire
, Scotland
. She was the fifth child of Thomas Haining, a farmer, and his first wife, Jane Mathison, a farmer's daughter. She grew up as a member of the evangelical Craig church in Dunscore
(Reformed Presbyterian
until 1876, then Free Church of Scotland until 1900, and then United Free Church
). She was educated at the village school, and won a scholarship to Dumfries Academy
in 1909. She trained at the commercial college of Glasgow Athenaeum, and worked for 10 years as a secretary at a threadmaker's in Paisley
. She lived in Pollokshields
in Glasgow
and attended Queen's Park
West United Free Church.
She volunteered for service as a missionary in 1932, becoming matron of the girls' home at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest
, Hungary
. She looked after 50 of the school's 400 pupils, and quickly became fluent in Hungarian
. Most of the pupils were Jewish.
broke out and she immediately returned to Budapest. She was ordered to return to Scotland in 1940 but refused, determined to remain with her girls. After the Nazi invasion of Hungary
in March 1944, she again refused to leave.
She was arrested in April 1944 and detained by the Gestapo
, accused, amongst other things, of working among Jews and listening to the BBC
. She admitted all the charges, except those of political activity. She was detained at Fő utca prison in Buda
, and then moved to a holding camp in Kistarcsa
. She was sent to Auschwitz in May 1944, where she was tattooed as prisoner 79467. She sent a last postcard on 15 July 1944, and died "in hospital" at Auschwitz on 17 July 1944, of "cachexia
following intestinal catarrh
", although it is thought that she may have died in the gas chambers. She is one of a total of ten Scots – including two or three women – thought to have died in the Nazi extermination camps.
; two plaques in the Scottish mission in Budapest; and enrollment as a non-Jewish individual who is acknowledged as Righteous Among the Nations
at Yad Vashem
in Jerusalem. A memorial cairn to Haining now stands between Dunscore
Kirk and the village graveyard made possible by public donation.
Pelicula Films are to produce a film about Haining titled There Are Mountains On The Road to Heaven. The film, a Hungarian co-production, will be backed by Scottish TV, Screen Screen and the European Commission
. The director of the film will be Mark Littlewood and it will feature the talents of producer Ian Smith and screen writer Chris Dolan. The film will be based on interviews with four pupils who survived, Dr. Zsuzanna Pajs, Dr. Maria Kremer, Ibolya Suranyi (Budapest), and Annette Lantos (Washington).
Karine Polwart, Scottish singer/songwriter, included a song about Haining entitled 'Baleerie Baloo' in her 2006 album, 'Scribbled in Chalk'.
Haining is also included in 'A Promised Land', a play by Raymond Ross.
In 2010, Haining was posthumously named a British Hero of the Holocaust
by the British Governnment.
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
. She worked in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, where she was arrested by the Nazis
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1944. She died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz later that year.
Early life
Haining was born at Lochenhead Farm in DunscoreDunscore
Dunscore is a small village which lies northwest of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It has a population of about 150 people....
, Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. She was the fifth child of Thomas Haining, a farmer, and his first wife, Jane Mathison, a farmer's daughter. She grew up as a member of the evangelical Craig church in Dunscore
Dunscore
Dunscore is a small village which lies northwest of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It has a population of about 150 people....
(Reformed Presbyterian
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland is a Christian denomination. It is the original church of the Reformed Presbyterian tradition . The RPCS formed in 1690 when its members declined to be part of the establishment of the Church of Scotland...
until 1876, then Free Church of Scotland until 1900, and then United Free Church
United Free Church of Scotland
The United Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland...
). She was educated at the village school, and won a scholarship to Dumfries Academy
Dumfries Academy
Dumfries Academy is one of four secondary schools in the town of Dumfries in South West Scotland.-History:Dumfries Academy has existed in its present form, though not in the buildings it currently occupies, since 1804...
in 1909. She trained at the commercial college of Glasgow Athenaeum, and worked for 10 years as a secretary at a threadmaker's in Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
. She lived in Pollokshields
Pollokshields
Pollokshields is a district in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. It is a conservation area which was developed in Victorian times according to a plan promoted by the original landowners, the Stirling-Maxwells of Pollok, whose association with the area goes as far back as...
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and attended Queen's Park
Queen's Park, Glasgow
Situated on the south side of the city of Glasgow, in Scotland, Queen's Park lies approximately two miles from the city centre, and can refer both to the park itself, the adjacent residential district, or the football team Queen's Park F.C.The park was developed in the late 19th century in...
West United Free Church.
She volunteered for service as a missionary in 1932, becoming matron of the girls' home at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. She looked after 50 of the school's 400 pupils, and quickly became fluent in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
. Most of the pupils were Jewish.
Second World War
She was holidaying in Cornwall in 1939 when the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out and she immediately returned to Budapest. She was ordered to return to Scotland in 1940 but refused, determined to remain with her girls. After the Nazi invasion of Hungary
Operation Margarethe
During World War II, the Germans planned two discrete operations using the codename Margarethe.Operation Margarethe I was the occupation of Hungary by German forces on 19 March 1944. The Hungarian government was an ally of Nazi Germany, but had been discussing an armistice with the Allies...
in March 1944, she again refused to leave.
She was arrested in April 1944 and detained by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, accused, amongst other things, of working among Jews and listening to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. She admitted all the charges, except those of political activity. She was detained at Fő utca prison in Buda
Buda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
, and then moved to a holding camp in Kistarcsa
Kistarcsa
Kistarcsa is a town in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary.Site of the Nazi camp for political prisoners during the Second World War.- External links :*...
. She was sent to Auschwitz in May 1944, where she was tattooed as prisoner 79467. She sent a last postcard on 15 July 1944, and died "in hospital" at Auschwitz on 17 July 1944, of "cachexia
Cachexia
Cachexia or wasting syndrome is loss of weight, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness, and significant loss of appetite in someone who is not actively trying to lose weight...
following intestinal catarrh
Catarrh
Catarrh is a disorder of inflammation of the mucous membranes in one of the airways or cavities of the body. It can result in a thick exudate of mucus and white blood cells caused by the swelling of the mucous membranes in the head in response to an infection...
", although it is thought that she may have died in the gas chambers. She is one of a total of ten Scots – including two or three women – thought to have died in the Nazi extermination camps.
Memorials
Among the memorials to Jane Haining are two stained glass windows in Queen's Park Church of Scotland in Glasgow, where she worshipped; a plaque in the little Kirk of DunscoreDunscore
Dunscore is a small village which lies northwest of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It has a population of about 150 people....
; two plaques in the Scottish mission in Budapest; and enrollment as a non-Jewish individual who is acknowledged as Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
at Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
in Jerusalem. A memorial cairn to Haining now stands between Dunscore
Dunscore
Dunscore is a small village which lies northwest of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It has a population of about 150 people....
Kirk and the village graveyard made possible by public donation.
Pelicula Films are to produce a film about Haining titled There Are Mountains On The Road to Heaven. The film, a Hungarian co-production, will be backed by Scottish TV, Screen Screen and the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. The director of the film will be Mark Littlewood and it will feature the talents of producer Ian Smith and screen writer Chris Dolan. The film will be based on interviews with four pupils who survived, Dr. Zsuzanna Pajs, Dr. Maria Kremer, Ibolya Suranyi (Budapest), and Annette Lantos (Washington).
Karine Polwart, Scottish singer/songwriter, included a song about Haining entitled 'Baleerie Baloo' in her 2006 album, 'Scribbled in Chalk'.
Haining is also included in 'A Promised Land', a play by Raymond Ross.
In 2010, Haining was posthumously named a British Hero of the Holocaust
British Hero of the Holocaust
The British Hero of the Holocaust award is a special national award given by the UK government in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust. On 9 March 2010 it was awarded to 25 individuals posthumously, and to two living people, Sir Nicholas Winton aged 100,...
by the British Governnment.
External links
- auschwitz.dk
- shoah.dk
- eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
- Jane Haining, Scotland's Schindler, The Independent, 21 December 2008
- Queen's Park Church