‘We must never forget’: Memorial plaque for holocaust victim to be unveiled

Scotland’s first brass Stolperstein memorial plaque for a Scottish Holocaust victim has been unveiled on Monday as “we must never forget the victims of Nazism”, an SNP MSP has said.

The plaque has been placed at St Stephen’s Church in Edinburgh for Jane Haining, who was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz.

The Stolperstein, or “stumbling block”, is a small brass plaque set into the pavement dedicated to someone persecuted by the Nazis.

The installation has been instigated by Edinburgh Central SNP MSP Angus Robertson and brings together leaders from the Christian and Jewish faiths, and representatives of the Hungarian and German Governments.

Angus Robertson, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs and Culture, said: “We must never forget the victims of Nazism or the lesson from history that persecution and extremism can tragically return.

“Jane Haining left Scotland for Hungary to help Jewish children and rather than save herself she tried to protect them and died in Auschwitz.

“It is right that Scotland’s first Stolperstein commemorates Jane Haining and many thanks to the City of Edinburgh Council who have made its installation possible, and to Gunter Demnig whose Stolperstein Project has become the largest decentralised memorial in the world.”

Jane Haining served as matron of the Scottish Mission School in Budapest during the 1930s and 1940s.

After the outbreak of war, she supported Jewish women seeking safety and remained in Budapest to care for the children in her charge, many of whom had been orphaned or abandoned.

She was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and deported to Auschwitz where she was killed later that year.

Prior to departing for Hungary in June 1932, a service of dedication for Haining took place at St Stephen’s Church in Stockbridge where the Stolperstein is installed.

Rt Rev Rosie Frew, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said that Ms Haining was an “inspirational woman” and shared hope that the erection of the plaque would keep her memory alive “for generations to come”

She said: “We are delighted that a Stolperstein is installed in memory of Jane Haining, who was the matron of the Scottish Mission School in Budapest in the 1930s and 1940s.

“After the war broke out in 1939, she taught domestic service management to Jewish women to help them emigrate to the safety of the UK, and showed tremendous courage by continuing to look after her young charges, many of whom were orphans or abandoned by their parents, in the face of escalating danger.

“An inspirational woman of deep faith, she was fully aware of the extraordinary risks she was taking but repeatedly refused Church of Scotland pleas to leave the Hungarian capital and return home to Scotland as the war engulfed Europe.

“Jane was determined to continue doing her duty and stick to her post and famously said: ‘If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness?’

“She was simultaneously an ordinary and extraordinary woman, and her story is one of heroism and personal sacrifice and reminds us that when we feel powerless, there is always something that we can do.

“It is a fine example of service over self-interest, and we hope that this honour, the first of its kind in Scotland, will help keep her memory alive for generations to come.”

Members of Jane Haining’s family attended the unveiling.

Representatives from the Hungarian and German consulates, alongside numerous Church of Scotland ministers and leaders from other faith communities, as well as civic figures were also in attendance.

Edward Green, senior member of the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation said: “The Edinburgh Jewish Community are proud to be associated with the erection in Edinburgh of the Stolperstein for Jane Haining.

“Her support for Jewish children and so many others during the horrendous years of the Nazi onslaught earned her an honoured place recognised as Righteous Among The Nations in Yad Vashem.

“We remember and honour her today and for future generations and are grateful to the Scottish government for its leadership in this.”