Kirk school matron who died in the Holocaust recognised at Auschwitz

The name of a Scot who died in the Holocaust after refusing to abandon Jewish children in her care has been added to a special memorial wall at Auschwitz.

Jane Haining, the matron of a Church boarding school, is recognised in a renewed section of the Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial and Museum's main exhibition, which is devoted to hundreds of prisoners for whom no registration photographs were taken.

As the number of arrivals at the extermination camp in occupied Poland increased, especially during the mass deportation of Jews in 1942-1944, the Nazis stopped photographing and formally registering prisoners.

They also destroyed documents, photographs and dismantled parts of the Auschwitz Birkenau camp to try and conceal their crimes as the end of the Second World War approached.

The new name plaques adorn the wall of a long corridor and are displayed next to many registration photographs of prisoners dressed in striped shirts with shaved heads.

Born and raised in the village of Dunscore in Dumfries and Galloway, Miss Haining was the matron at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest, Hungary from 1932-1944.

It had around 400 day and boarder pupils aged from six to 16 years old, a mixture of Jewish and Christian girls.

Miss Haining helped keep the children safe for more than four years after the war broke out in 1939 until she was betrayed by the cook's son-in-law, whom she scolded for taking scarce food meant for the girls, some of whom were orphans or abandoned by their parents.

She was determined to stick to her post and repeatedly ignored Church of Scotland requests to return home, saying: ‘If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness?'

Miss Haining was arrested by German officers in April 1944, and former pupil Agnes Rostas said her haunting last words to sobbing children were: "Don't worry, I'll be back by lunch."

But the kind-hearted Scot never returned to the school and was charged with eight separate offences and jailed in Budapest before being transported along with Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz on 14 May 1944.

Miss Haining was 47 and her death certificate said she died in hospital on 17 July but it is widely accepted she died in a gas chamber and her remains remain on the Auschwitz site.

A spokesman for Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial and Museum said: "The corridor has two important purposes.

"It restores individual names and identities to people who were imprisoned and killed in Auschwitz, but it also helps visitors understand the complexity of the prisoner population.

"Prisoners came from many different countries, communities, backgrounds and groups.

"By presenting hundreds of individual names together, the exhibition shows both the scale of persecution and the diversity of the people who experienced the camp."

Miss Haining is the only Scot to be recognised as ‘Righteous Among the Nations' at Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem, for taking great risks to save Jews.

Members of her family, Kevin O'Brien, Liz Harrigan and Patricia Audis, visited the exhibition this week during a study tour to Auschwitz, organised by the Renfrewshire branch of the Unison trade union.

Today, they took part in a memorial service at Auschwitz Birkenau to commemorate the matron's sacrifice outside block nine where she was held prisoner prior to her untimely death.

Deirdre MacDowell, Miss Haining's niece, said: "To see Jane's name on a permanent memorial wall as a Scotswoman and a missionary makes one ask, how is it that she came to be in Auschwitz?

"And that's the beginning of her story and it can be told to all who ask about her.

"Her story is humbling, full of compassion and kindness and makes us think about how we live our own lives - it is a legacy for us all."

A Church of Scotland spokesman said: "It is very moving to see that Jane Haining's name has been added to the corridor wall at Auschwitz and will help keep her memory alive for generations to come.

"It is more important than ever that people learn the lessons of history so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

"Jane was simultaneously an ordinary and extraordinary woman. Her story is one of courage, heroism, decency and personal sacrifice, reminding us that when we feel powerless, there is always something that we can do.

"Her life is a fine example of Christian service over self-interest."

Mark Ferguson, Scottish Convenor of Unison, said he and his colleagues are "very honoured" to work with Miss Haining's family to highlight her selfless bravery.

"We must never forget that the Holocaust was a state programme designed to destroy selected groups and we must remember all those affected," he added.

Last November, a brass Stolperstein, "stumbling block", in memory of Miss Haining was installed outside the former St Stephen's Church building in Edinburgh, where a special service was held on the eve of her departure to Budapest.

A new 9ft x 65ft long black and white wall mural to commemorate the matron's life and legacy is expected to be officially unveiled in Paisley soon.

The town was chosen because Miss Haining worked as a secretary at J&P Coats' Ferguslie Mill for 10 years before moving to Budapest to take up her role at the Church of Scotland school.

The mural was commissioned by Unison.