Scotland’s first “Stolperstein”: Jane Haining (1897-1944), Christian missionary | Scotland's People Scotland’s first “Stolperstein” brass plaque was unveiled in Edinburgh on 24th November 2025 in memory of Jane Haining who gave her life helping Jewish people during the Holocaust.

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/news-and-art...

#GoodRead #JaneHaining #Stolperstein #Edinburgh #StStephen’schurch

Black and white portrait photo of Jane Haining. She wears wire frame glasses, a beaded necklace and has short curled hair.

On Holocaust Memorial Day, we’re sharing the story of Jane Haining, a Scottish missionary who refused to abandon the children in her care and died in Auschwitz.
Read the blog by Shona Paget here:
womenshistoryscotland.org/2026/01/27/j...

#HolocaustMemorialDay #JaneHaining #WomensHistory

Victim of the Nazis and subsequently the emergent German State who retained notorious "Paragraph 175" of the penal code that locked gay men into a cycle of brief freedoms and longer periods of cruel incarceration meaning jobs and pension benefits remained denied to decent German gay citizens. On 11 June 1943, Karl Gorath, a 20-year-old gay German nurse, was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was first arrested for homosexuality after being denounced by a jealous lover in 1939, and given a prison sentence. After his release he was sent to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he was made to wear a pink triangle denoting LGBT+ prisoners. Working in the camp's health department, with some comrades he attempted to smuggle food to Russian prisoners, who were being starved to death. Their plan was discovered by the Nazis, who then sentenced Gorath to transportation to Auschwitz as a criminal and political prisoner, to be denoted with a red triangle. Despite contracting dysentery, he managed to survive the war and was released in 1945. But within a few months he was arrested again by West German authorities, who had kept the homophobic Nazi laws intact. His case was overseen by the same judge, who greeted him with the words "You are already here again!" and gave him the maximum sentence of five years. His lawyer requested that his time served in the concentration camps be counted as part of this, but his request was denied. After his release, because of his convictions he was unable to get a job for a decade. And when the time came to draw his pension, his years interned in concentration camps were deducted from his allowance, as were his unemployment payments. He died in 2003, having never received compensation for his treatment, unlike some other Holocaust survivors. He told his story in a 2000 documentary, "Paragraph 175", named after the relevant section of the penal code.

A neighbour in the 'close' Karl lived in keeps his Stolperstein ground plaque in good condition and on the anniversary of his being snatched away, a candle is lit; drawing passers-by attention to his name.

German Brasso polish equivalent demonstrating it only takes a little effort to keep these plaques brilliant. I very much hope Ms #JaneHaining's is similarly revered and given the Brasso and Candle treatment each year. Our continued respect costs nothing. 🙏💝

brass memorial plaque for a Scottish Holocaust victim has been unveiled in the centre of Edinburgh. A Stolperstein stone has been laid outside St Stephen's Church in Stockbridge, where a service was held for Jane Haining in June 1932 before she travelled to Budapest to work as a matron. She was later murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz on 17 July 1944. The Stolperstein, or "stumbling block", is a small brass plaque set into the pavement, serving as a personal and lasting memorial for someone persecuted by Nazis. Gunter Demnig, who created the plaques, has placed thousands across Europe. A memorial for Miss Haining was held on Monday 24th November 2025 where members of her family and supporters held up her picture. In 1932, she took on the role of matron at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest, which had about 400 day and boarder pupils aged from six to 16 years old, and were a mixture of Jews and Christians. She helped keep children safe until she was betrayed and arrested by German officers in April 1944. Charged with eight offences, she was jailed in Budapest before being transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau by rail in a cattle wagon along with scores of others on 14 May, 1944. Miss Haining succumbed to starvation and the terrible conditions in the camp and died aged 47. Her niece Deirdre MacDowall, 77, was among loved ones attending the memorial "the whole family is very proud". She said: "It's a great honour and I'm so pleased that Jane is being remembered in this way, although she herself would have not wanted a lot of fuss. "We want people to hear her story and to learn from it." We must never forget the victims of Nazism or the lesson from history that persecution and extremism can tragically return," he said. "Jane Haining left Scotland for Hungary to help Jewish children & rather than save herself she tried to protect them and died in Auschwitz. Gunter Demnig's Stolperstein project has become the largest decentralised memorial in the world."

Delighted to see commemoration of brave Ms #JaneHaining murdered by the #Nazis in #Auschwitz in July 1944.

Many of these revered #Stolperstein brass ground plaques are placed at former home addresses simply to commemorate those lost who never returned home. Cared for.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#NeverAgain #Paisley #JaneHaining

You demonise.
You dehumanise.
You follow orders.
You select.
You direct.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Ha...

You travel to Oświęcim.
You hand your soul over to Auschwitz-Birkenau.