Cornerstone No. 188, page 10
Mr Toth-Heinemann 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.”
Calmness
Mr Toth-Heinemann said the exhibition will help ensure that her memory is
kept alive and “illustrate her heroism" to visitors. “The primary objective will
be the education of young people so they can learn that sometimes it is
important to make a sacrifice,” he added. “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.”
A small exhibition about Jane Haining is on display in St Columba’s Church of
Scotland in Budapest and in the school next door where she used to work.
Mr Toth-Heinemann said: “It is incredible to be in Dunscore to see where Jane
grew up. “I could not imagine the beauty of this place and would say that part
of her strength came from the calmness and peacefulness of this area.”
Fiona Malcolm, Faculty Head of Social Subjects at Braes High School in Polmont
near Falkirk, said Jane Haining was a Scot whose story is one of “courage and
sacrifice”. “It is important that young Scottish people learn about her story,
which is one that I teach to third year pupils. I am just back from an annual
teacher training course organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust at Yad
Vashem in Jerusalem. “It was a privilege to see Jane Haining’s name in the
Garden of Remembrance there. Dunscore is a beautiful, peaceful place and it
breaks my heart that Jane ended her days in the hellhole that was Auschwitz.”
Darkness
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
Second World War but Jane declined, writing 'if these children need me in days
of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness’".
A heritage centre, which will in part tell the story of Miss Haining, is being
created inside Dunscore Parish Church, which has a memorial cairn in her
memory nearby. Matthew Aitken, a member of the team behind the project
which is expected to be open in October, 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.”