Artwork for a planned mural honouring a Scottish missionary who attempted to guard Jews from the Nazis and herself died in Auschwitz has been unveiled within the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Jane Haining was born in Dumfriesshire in 1897. In 1932 she moved to Hungary to function matron of the Scottish Mission School in Budapest. The school was run by the Scottish Mission to the Jews, an arm of the Church of Scotland.
When war broke out in 1939, the Church of Scotland advised Haining to return to Scotland. Instead she opted to remain and watch over her charges, a lot of whom were Jewish. She said, “If these children need me in days of sunshine, how rather more do they need me in days of darkness?”
For much of the war Hungary was an ally of Nazi Germany, nonetheless in 1944, Germany occupied the country, because of fears the country was attempting to pursue a separate peace with the allies.
Shortly after it’s believed that Haining was reported to German authorities following an argument with the cook’s son-in-law. Despite saying she would “be back by lunch”, she the truth is was sent to Auschwitz, where she died two months later on the age of 47.
The recent black and white mural, which can be 9ft high and 65ft long, is to be situated in Paisley, in recognition of Haining’s decade spent within the town working as a secretary at J&P Coats’ Ferguslie Mill.
The mural was commissioned by the Renfrewshire branch of Unison and was designed by Paisley-based artists Alexander Guy and Caroline Gormley.
Guy said, “I didn’t know the story of Jane Haining before we were asked to do that and I discovered it fascinating to research the knowledge about her life. Initially I believed to myself ‘why this woman because thousands and thousands of individuals died through the Holocaust’ however the more I examine her, the more I realised how remarkable she was.
“Jane Haining was a real heroine and her story needs recognition, whether it’s in Budapest, Paisley or Dunscore and I’m very honoured and privileged to supply a mural that hopefully does her and all her relatives proud.”
Both Guy and Gormley consulted with Haining’s family and Mark Ferguson from the general public services trade union.
Ferguson said of the initial artwork, “The mural has exceeded my expectations, we wanted it to inform the story of Jane Haining in the assorted locations she was in. But certainly one of the things the family and I were very keen on was that centre photograph of Jane with the youngsters, because that is who she was.
“I’m absolutely delighted with the image and with the very powerful presence that it’s going to have in Shuttle Street in Paisley, it’s going to generate numerous interest.”
The unveiling took place at Coats Memorial Church on Holocaust Memorial Day within the presence of the Rt Rev Rosie Flew, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Reverend Flew described the artwork as “striking” and praised Haining as someone who lived a lifetime of “service over self-interest”.
“She was concurrently an unusual and extraordinary woman and her story is certainly one of courage, heroism, decency and private sacrifice, reminding us that once we feel powerless, there may be at all times something that we will do.”
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