Memorial made to war heroine

Oct 20 2010 by Jackie Grant, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

A DUNSCORE missionary who tried to protect 400 Hungarian orphans during World War Two, was remembered during a moving memorial ceremony in Budapest.

Dunscore minister Christine Sime and local woman Pam Mitchell made a last-minute trip to the city last week to represent the village after an invite by members of the Jewish community.

Rev Sime said: “This was an important occasion including speeches from Gusztav Zoltai of Mazsihisz, a leader of the Jewish community in Budapest; Katalin Levai, of the Holocaust Memorial Society, an archivist who brought to light new pictures of Jane; a representative from the society tasked with teaching children about the holocaust; Rev Aaron Stevens, the minister of The Scottish Church, Budapest and Miklas Durr, one of the students who had visited Dunscore this year.

“Pam and I were also asked to address the assembled company.

“We spoke of Jane’s strength of faith and character which led her to offer herself in God’s service, of the honour, respect and love in which she is held in Dunscore, and of the core values held by Jane which led her to share God’s love with all around her, no matter their faith, their race, their circumstances.”

Jane, who was born at Dunscore in 1897, worked as a Church of Scotland missionary to Hungarian Jews from 1832, where she cared for 400 young orphans at a school in Budapest.

When World War Two began in 1939, Jane refused to return home to Scotland and chose instead to stay with the children in her care.

When the Nazis invaded Hungary in March 1944, Jane was arrested for refusing to leave the orphans. She was deported to Auschwitz, where it is believed she was gassed on August 16, 1944.

Rev Sime and Pam also presented the Jewish community with a piece of whinstone from Lochanhead Farm, where Jane grew up. The stone, which was polished and engraved ‘Dunscore’, was very well received.

They also visited the Holocaust Memorial Garden beside the Dohany Synagogue, where Jane’s name is now engraved in the stone along with others who helped Jews in this time of terror.

Christine and Pam will be offering a presentation of Jane’s life and their experiences at the ceremony in Budapest on Tuesday, October 26 from 6.30pm-7.15pm, and Wednesday, November 3 from 2pm-3pm in Dunscore Church.