History being repeated in Israel

German Pentecostals backed Hitler’s race laws in 1938

Haman, the Nazis, and the roots of anti-Semitism

Love of Jesus melts hearts of Hitler’s henchmen

An apt lesson for our times in lockdown

The dreadful consequences of touching the apple of God’s eye

As we once again recall with horror the terrorist atrocity witnessed by the whole world when New York’s Twin Towers were reduced to rubble in 2001, few will be aware of an earlier 9/11 that destroyed an entire city.

It happened on the night of 11 September 1944, when the German city of Darmstadt suffered a devastating air raid by RAF pilots sent out from my home town of Doncaster, headquarters of Bomber Command.

12,000 residents were killed and many more made homeless amid ongoing controversy even in Britain as to whether it was really necessary as the war was almost won by then.

But as fire swept through the smouldering ruins, a devoted young German Christian wept bitterly over her nation’s terrible sin against the Jewish people – she clearly saw the bombing as the judgment of God.

Sister Thekla (sitting) and Sister Glory pictured at Jesus’ Return, their home near London.Basilea Schlink determined to do something about it and subsequently founded the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, dedicated to confessing the sin of her nation and making restitution with God’s chosen people, chiefly by loving and serving them in whatever way they could.

Touching the Apple of God’s Eye

More than 70 years later, the order is represented in nations across the globe, including Australia and the United States, and I have just spent a weekend at their UK base near London where a coffee-table book on their history recalls that fateful night in Darmstadt:

For years our mothers had prayed for revival in the girls’ Bible study groups they led; now their prayers were answered – far differently than they had ever expected. That night the girls encountered God in his holiness as Judge and Lord over life and death…

Following that night of terror, there was a move among those young girls to bring sin into the light and receive forgiveness…God’s moment had come. Out of the ashes emerged new life.¹

Have we still not learned that there are shocking consequences for those who touch the apple of God’s eye, which is how the Bible refers to Israel?

Not surprisingly, the British-based sisters are deeply grieved at the rise of anti-Semitism all over Europe so soon after this terrible disaster caused by the Nazis’ sickening murder of six million Jews in the death camps of Poland and Germany.

Have we still not learned that there are shocking consequences for those who touch the apple of God’s eye, which is how the Bible refers to Israel (see Zechariah 2:8)?

When and Where to Flee

According to Alex Brummer in a Daily Mail article,² all the talk among British Jews is now focused on which country to flee to if Jeremy Corbyn gets into No. 10 as he has failed miserably to deal with the rise of anti-Semitism in his party, which has traditionally had the support of the Jewish community (and it now appears there has been a cover-up over party members allegedly involved in anti-Semitic hate crimes3).

According to my sources, many have already fled traditionally Jewish suburbs like Golders Green in north London in order to set up home in safer areas following a series of anti-Semitic incidents.

And although British Jews have become accustomed to bias against Israel in recent decades, “never before has a major political party in Britain regarded the creation by the post-war so-called Great Powers (including Russia) of the state of Israel in 1948…as an act of colonialist occupation”, Brummer writes, referring to Mr Corbyn’s stated beliefs.

“But that this [fleeing the country] is even being discussed, just 70 years on from the horrors of Auschwitz; that British Jews should be feeling so insecure in the country they love, is deeply disturbing,” Brummer adds.

And he pointed out that Israel wasn’t necessarily their first choice of destination, because some see it as a move from the frying pan into the fire. But I disagree with that. I go along with a participant on BBC2’s We Are British Jews programme⁴ who said that “It’s the safest place in the world to be”.

All the talk among British Jews is now focused on which country to flee to if Jeremy Corbyn gets into No. 10.

God’s Purposes

Yes, the Jewish state is surrounded by implacable enemies with an insatiable desire to wipe them off the map and, yes, they are threatened once more with annihilation. But Israel’s security is very tight – and effective.

In any case, should physical safety be their only consideration? Isn’t the safest place of all in the loving arms of God – the God of Israel? And his purpose is that they should return to the Land of their forefathers, the Land promised to Abraham as a permanent possession (Gen 17:8). After all, the Tenach (Old Testament) prophets foretold of a great ingathering of Jews from every corner of the globe.

Picture: Charles GardnerAlmost half of world Jewry are now living in Israel and, according to the Bible, it would appear to be God’s will that they should all return (Ezek 39:28). But don’t misunderstand me. I do not wish to encourage persecution so that they feel forced to flee. Jewish contribution to European societies has been priceless – without the ongoing input of their high achievers we would all suffer. But woe to those whose intimidation does cause them to leave; for they will come under a curse (Gen 12:3).

Nevertheless, it is God’s purpose that his chosen people should be back in the Land before Messiah returns. Yes, there will be a battle over Jerusalem, and the nations will come against it, but the Lord will intervene and defeat the enemies of Israel, once and for all (see Zechariah 12-14).

Messiah’s Return

When Jesus ascended to heaven as his perplexed disciples watched in wonder, angels explained to them that he would one day return in the same way he had left – and this took place on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem (Acts 1:11).

The Prophet Zechariah confirms this – that Christ will indeed place his feet on the Mount of Olives and that the Jewish nation will have their eyes opened as they recognise Jesus as the One they had pierced (Zech 12:10).

Almost half of world Jewry are now living in Israel and, according to the Bible, it would appear to be God’s will that they should all return.

The Messiah for whom Jews have longed will appear on earth, and they will acknowledge that he has been here before – as the suffering servant (Isa 53). Although they will mourn over what they did to him (we all need to confess our sin in order to be cleansed), their hearts will be sprinkled clean – and “all Israel will be saved” (Ezek 36:25; Zech 13:1; Rom 11:26).

Jesus is coming again – and the establishing of the people of Israel in their Land is a major sign.

References

1 A Celebration of God’s Unfailing Love, published by the Evangelical Sisters of Mary.

2 Daily Mail, 30 August 2018. According to a Jewish Chronicle poll, almost 40% of UK Jews would ‘seriously consider’ leaving if Corbyn became PM (Times of Israel, 5 September 2018).

3 Daily Express, 5 September 2018.

4 A two-part series screened last week (on 4 and 5 September).

Further shameful acts exposed as Prince makes historic visit to Israel

As evidence has come to light of further shameful acts of anti-Semitism carried out by British officials during its charge over the territory formerly known as Palestine, it is hoped that next week’s Royal visit to Israel will help heal the wounds of those who suffered.

I reported last month on a special ceremony held near Haifa at which UK representatives shared a ‘declaration of sorrow’ for the way our country treated Jews in the years leading up to the re-birth of their nation in 1948.
A more detailed report of that 11 May event has since come into my possession¹ and I am thus able to reveal – exclusively - some shocking facts shared by Holocaust survivors and others attending the ceremony, organised by Love Never Fails, an alliance of Christian groups supporting the Jewish state.

Atlit detention camp (now a museum). Photo Gemma Blech, courtesy Anne Heelis.It took place at Atlit, a former detention camp where Jewish refugees were held as part of British policy to limit immigration to the region, adding further trauma to a people who had already suffered terribly under the Nazis.

Granted a League of Nations mandate to prepare a safe homeland for Jews, Britain instead interred them behind barbed wire complete with watchtowers.

Harrowing Stories of Betrayal

Among those who shared their harrowing stories of the time was Hannah Avrutsky. A survivor of the notorious Warsaw ghetto,² she was hidden in a monastery before being smuggled to the Exodus ship bound for Israel in 1947, only to face a British naval blockade and be sent back to a Displaced Persons’ camp in Germany, where so many of her people had been murdered!

Ben Zion Drutin spoke of being hospitalised after being wounded by the British on board the Exodus and then held in Atlit for six months.

Arie Itamar, who was eight years old on the Exodus, compared Israel to a “betrayed lover” during the Mandate.

Granted a League of Nations mandate to prepare a safe homeland for Jews, Britain instead interred them behind barbed wire complete with watchtowers.

Pinchas Kahane spoke of his parents’ escape from Auschwitz, his birth in a Cyprus detention camp and how Britain prevented them leaving the camps until February 1949, well after the establishment of the State of Israel.

Dr Miri Nehari, whose father had been a leader in mobilising the escape of Jews from Europe after the Holocaust, read out a British telegram to the Polish Government-in-exile asking them to close the borders to escaping Jews.

Brits and Israelis together at the Atlit meeting. Photo courtesy of Anne Heelis.Zehavit Blumenfeld, whose 70^th birthday has coincided with that of Israel’s, said: “I do not forget, but I forgive.” She was born in the Cyprus detention camps where 53,000 Jewish refugees from the Holocaust were interned by the British.

She and others were moved by the warmth and sympathy of the Christians who came to express their sorrow and hope that Prince William’s visit will be an important step towards reconciliation.

The testimonies concluded with stories of British collusion with Arab terror during the Mandate. Noam Arnon, representing the Hebron Jewish Community, spoke on behalf of those who had survived the 1929 massacre there, outlining British complicity.

Zehava Fuchs witnessed the Hadassah convoy massacre as a girl in 1948 when the British had deliberately not intervened to rescue Jewish passengers – 78 people, mainly doctors and nurses, were killed in the attack by Arab terrorists. Zehava is still unable to attend a barbeque as it reminds her of the smell of burning flesh.

Declaration of Sorrow

Rachel Rust, daughter of a former British officer who served in Palestine, confessed her deep sorrow at the cruel treatment handed out by the British army.

On a positive note, Rita Offenbach shared how her mother was among 180 Jewish fighters rescued after being besieged by Arabs attacking their convoy. Another paid tribute to British officer Orde Wingate who is still much loved in Israel for having laid the foundations of the Israeli Defence Force in creating special night squads.

The declaration of sorrow read, in part: “We grieve that [Britain’s policies] led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews who could have escaped Hitler’s ‘final solution’ if the gates to their ancient homeland had been fully open.”

Many Israelis are still waiting to hear an apology from Britain for her betrayal of Israel. There is still a need for much repentance and reconciliation.

Film-maker Hugh Kitson³ expressed sorrow, not only for the failures of the Mandate but also for the fact that today’s British Government fails to recognise Israeli sovereignty over their own capital city.

Many Israelis are still waiting to hear an apology from Britain for her betrayal of Israel in breaking a pledge to prepare a safe refuge for the Jewish people. Israel came into being without our help in the end, but not before many lives were unnecessarily lost due to the delay. There is still a need for much repentance and reconciliation.

Hope Persists

Prince William is scheduled to touch down on Monday for the start of the first ever official visit to Israel by a British Royal, during which he will pay his respects at the tomb of his great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, who hid a Jewish family from the Nazis during the war. It is hoped that the visit will mark a turning point in Britain’s relationship with Israel.

It is certainly encouraging that, according to a senior Conservative source, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid will take steps later this year to fully ban Hezbollah, one of Israel’s most implacable enemies. Since banning the terrorist group in 2008, Britain has continued to recognise its political wing – a distinction not even accepted by Hezbollah, a heavily armed proxy of Iran which has held successive London rallies against the Jewish state.⁴

Also encouraging is Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s condemnation on Monday of the United Nations Human Rights Council over its long-standing anti-Israel bias, demanding the Council drop a controversial agenda item placing Israel under intense scrutiny.⁵

These are indeed steps in the right direction, and we trust and pray that the Duke of Cambridge will encounter true peace as he walks in the footsteps of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

References

1 My thanks to Rosie Ross, Israel’s Love Never Fails representative, for the Atlit report, and to her colleague Anne Heelis for passing it on to me. Further signatures to the declaration can still be made at www.nachamuami.com.

2 Where Jews were herded into a cramped, unsanitary location as a staging post for being transported to death camps.

3 Hugh Kitson’s latest documentary Whose Land? explores Israel’s historic and legal rights to their land.

4 Jerusalem News Network, 18 June 2018, quoting the Jewish Chronicle.

5 JNN, 20 June 2018.

500 years ago this coming week, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany.

500 years ago this coming week (31 October 1517), Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. In those days, this was the traditional way to initiate a public debate on a given theme.

This time the theme was a 95-fold challenge to the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church of the day, that was bent on fundraising at the expense of the poor by selling so-called ‘indulgences’, whereby the unsuspecting were persuaded that they could purchase forgiveness of sins.

The 95 items¹ were headed with the words:

Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Luther summarised his overall purpose under three headings:

1. Selling indulgences to finance the building of St Peter's is wrong.
   
2. The pope has no power over Purgatory.
   
3. Buying indulgences gives people a false sense of security and endangers their salvation.
   

Thus broke out what became the Protestant Reformation, with the rallying cry of Habbakuk 2:4:

Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.

Luther did not succeed in reforming the Catholic Church of his day but became cut off from this community, instead propelling into existence the Lutheran wing of the Protestant Church, which has spread its influence widely over these 500 years.

Luther did not succeed in reforming the Catholic Church of his day, but propelled into existence the Lutheran wing of the Protestant Church.

Luther’s Blind Spot

This week, we should celebrate this astounding move which brought freedom to millions who were no longer to be chained by the religious orders of the historic Roman Catholic Church, but free to explore the life of faith which pleases God. The later reforms of the Roman Catholic Church surely also owe something to this early proclamation of Luther.

The church door in Wittenberg, Germany, where Luther pinned his 95 theses for all to see. See Photo Credits.

Yet, great though the Protestant Reformation has been, we would also be wise to perceive an unfinished work. Luther had one tremendous blind spot. When he failed to impact the Jewish community with his proclamation of the Gospel, he turned against them. In his publication of 1543 ‘On the Jews and their Lies’, he described Jews as a "base, whoring people, that is, no people of God, and their boast of lineage, circumcision, and law must be accounted as filth." He wrote that they are "full of the devil's faeces...which they wallow in like swine," describing the synagogue is an "incorrigible whore and an evil slut".²

He proposed the following seven actions:

1. To burn down Jewish synagogues and schools and warn people against them;
   
2. To refuse to let Jews own houses among Christians;
   
3. For Jewish religious writings to be taken away;
   
4. For rabbis to be forbidden to preach;
   
5. To offer no protection to Jews on highways;
   
6. For usury to be prohibited and for all silver and gold to be removed, put aside for safekeeping, and given back to Jews who truly convert;
   
7. To give young, strong Jews flail, axe, spade, and spindle, and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.
   

Luther could not have foreseen that this unfortunate after-thought in his later life, following many years of powerful and fruitful ministry, would be taken up literally by Hitler’s Nazis as an impetus to the terrible ‘final solution’, culminating in the horror of the Holocaust.

Let us thank God for the good fruits of Luther’s ministry, but now take responsibility for the completion of the Reformation.

The True Life of Faith

Luther was fluent in Hebrew yet he failed to fully understand Hebraic thought. He saw the Epistle of James as a “perfect straw-epistle” because he did not understand James’ teaching that faith without works is dead (James 2:26).³

No doubt his mind was already so much against those from a Jewish background (like James, whose name was actually Jacob) to consider them as having a doctrine of salvation by works, like the Roman Catholics of his day.

He did not consider the Hebrew emunah sufficiently to observe that it means both ‘faith’ and ‘faithfulness’, so that Hebrews 11:1 can be translated equally “faith is the substance of things hoped for” and “faithfulness is the substance of things hoped for”, which completely validates James’ teaching that the faith which pleases God involves the fruitful outworking of our lives.

Luther was fluent in Hebrew yet he failed to fully understand Hebraic thought.

A Careful Eye on Prophecy

Of course Luther did not live in our day when we see the miracle of Israel’s re-birth as a nation. Nor did he witness the increasing numbers of Messianic Jews declaring faith in Yeshua HaMashiach. Would he have been ashamed if he knew of his own contribution to fanning the flames of Replacement Theology still rampant in the Christian Church?

Had he lived today perhaps he would not have been so foolish as to speak against the Jews as he did and may well have written a 96^th thesis. He may have had a more careful eye on the outworking of prophecy. In his day, just as he discarded the Epistle of James and also that of Jude, he discarded the Book of Revelation. Perhaps he had not the prompting to consider end time prophecy as we have, with signs all around us.

What would this 96^th thesis be? Let me suggest it:

96 For discussion: We live in the sure expectancy that God is drawing together both Jews and Gentiles into the one community of faith which Paul calls the ‘one new man’ (Ephesians 2:14-15). It is now time to rediscover the original roots of our faith together. God, in His wisdom, is enabling a fresh interaction between Messianic Jews and believing Gentiles as never before to firmly establish the common faith. Surely this will be the means of strengthening for the days ahead, for washing away all doctrinal and denominational division when we are united in Spirit and Truth through Faith in the One True God and His Son Yeshua the Messiah. This is to be the goal of all who believe in Him, whether from Catholic or Protestant backgrounds. Surely this will complete the Reformation begun so sacrificially 500 years ago, but now to be completed as we wait for the return of our Saviour.

References

1 Click here for a translation of the entire 95 theses.

2 Anti-Semitism: Martin Luther - "The Jews & Their Lies" (1543). Jewish Virtual Library.

3 Martin Luther and the Book of James. Biblestudy.org.

The story of a remarkable Christian soldier who risked his life for Jewish men.

72 years after the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army on 27 January 1945, Britain and other nations are acknowledging Holocaust Memorial Day at a time when anti-Semitism is once more on the rise.

Israel itself, which has since risen from the ashes of that dreadful scourge that wiped out six million European Jews, is under dire threat from enemies on all sides while attacks on synagogues and other Jewish centres are still being carried out in the ‘civilised’ West. Only this last weekend in north-west London, a swastika-daubed brick was hurled through a Jewish family’s window while others were pelted with eggs.¹

The fragile borders to which the United Nations expect Israel to agree (just nine miles wide in places) have for good reason been described by politicians as ‘Auschwitz lines’, because they leave the Jewish state highly vulnerable to attack from neighbouring states who have repeatedly threatened to wipe them off the map.

It was also in January 1945 that one of the most heroic accounts of the war took place. But the incredible story has only just surfaced because the hero concerned never spoke about it.

The truth was finally unearthed by his granddaughter when asked to focus on a family member as part of a college assignment. Her widowed grandmother gave her the diary kept by her husband during his time in a prisoner-of-war camp which revealed the astonishing fact that, by standing up to the German commandant, Master Sgt Roddie Edmonds, of Knoxville, Tennessee, had saved the lives of 200 American Jews.

Israel is under dire threat from enemies on all sides, whilst Jews in the ‘civilised’ West are increasingly under attack.

‘We Are All Jews Here’

As the highest-ranking officer there, Edmonds was made responsible for the camp’s 1,292 American GIs, 200 of whom were Jewish. Then one day the Germans ordered all Jewish POWs to report outside their barracks the following morning. Knowing what awaited them – being moved to a slave labour camp at the very least – he decided to resist the directive, ordering all his men to fall out the following morning.

The commandant, Major Siegmann, duly ordered Edmonds to identify the Jewish soldiers, to which the sergeant responded: “We are all Jews here.”

Holding his pistol to Edmonds’ head, the commandant repeated the order. But the sergeant – a devout Christian – refused.

“According to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank and serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us, and after the war you will be tried for war crimes,” Edmonds had said, according to one of the men saved that day.

Edmonds’ pastor son Chris regards all of them as heroes as they could easily have identified the Jews among them to save their skin. But they all stood together.

Neutrality Not an Option

Late last year, Roddie Edmonds was posthumously awarded the Yehi Or (‘Let there be light’) Award by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. He has also been honoured by Jerusalem’s Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’.²

But as Jews were herded into cattle trucks for transporting to death camps, there weren’t many Roddies about who dared to speak up and stand up on their behalf. These days, where controversial issues are concerned, leaders still prefer to keep their heads below the proverbial parapet while remaining ‘impartial’. But there is a time when we must take sides. We must choose between life and death, between God and evil. If we claim to be Christian, we have no option.

“Neutrality is only an illusion,” writes Robert Stearns. “Those who are not for God are against Him. (Matthew 12.30a) The German public’s unfortunate legacy during World War II lies not in what they did in response to their despotic leader and his horrendous practices, but in what they did not do.”³

These days, where controversial issues are concerned, it seems easier to remain ‘impartial’. But there is a time when we must take sides.

Righteous Among the Nations

This did not apply, however, to Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, young Christians who led the White Rose leaflet campaign of resistance - for which they paid with their lives. Prophetically, they asked the question: “Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes…reach the light of day?”⁴

Garden of the Righteous, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.

Stearns also points out that, when the Nazis invaded European nations, many monarchs vacated their thrones and fled. But King Christian X stayed in Denmark as he defied the bullies. And thanks to his example, most Danish Jews survived the war.⁵

Princess Alice, the Queen’s mother-in-law, has also been recognised by Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ for saving a Jewish family during the war, and is buried on the Mount of Olives.

As Princess of Greece, she hid Jewish widow Rachel Cohen and two of her five children in her home. Rachel’s husband had in 1913 helped King George I of Greece, in return for which the king offered him any service he could perform, should he ever need it. When the Nazi threat emerged, his son recalled this promise and appealed to the Princess, who duly honoured her father’s pledge. Prince Charles last year fulfilled a longstanding wish to visit his grandmother’s grave.⁶

It’s interesting in this respect that Prince Charles has compared the dangers facing minority faith groups across the world today with the “dark days of the 1930s”.⁷

Are we courageous enough to tell the entire world that we are followers of Jesus and, as such, willing to do all we can to stand up to evil?

I Am One of Them…

The Queen herself is a wonderful example of someone who is prepared to make an uncompromising stand for faith and truth, declaring in her latest Christmas message to the nation: “Jesus Christ lived in obscurity for much of his life and was maligned and rejected by many, though he had done no wrong. Millions now follow his teaching and find in him the guiding light of their lives. I am one of them…”

Are we, like the Queen, courageous enough to tell the entire world that we are followers of Jesus and, as such, will do all we can to stand up to the evil that lurks in every dark corner of our land?

Roddie Edmonds was prepared to die for 200 Jewish men. Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. But the greatest sacrifice of all was when Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus), “though he had done no wrong”, laid down his life for both Jews and Gentiles on a stake outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, after being “led like a lamb to the slaughter” during the Passover feast (Isa 53:7). He bought our pardon; he paid the price.

Notes

1 Jerusalem News Network, 24 January 2017, quoting Algemeiner.

2 Gateway News (South Africa), 1 December 2016, originally published by The Times of Israel.

3 The Cry of Mordecai by Robert Stearns (Destiny Image).

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

6 Torch magazine, Christians United for Israel – UK, Dec 2016-Feb 2017.

7 Saltshakers, 24 December 2016, quoting Premier.org.uk.

New light is shed on the Holocaust heroine who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

The discovery of a handwritten will and more than 70 photographs has provided fresh insight into the life of a Christian martyr who perished at Auschwitz.

Just six months before the camp was liberated by the Red Army on 27 January 1945, the life of courageous Scot Jane Haining was snuffed out, aged 47, by Nazi butchers for the 'crime' of loving the Jewish girls under her care.

Priceless Discovery

The "priceless" finding in the attic of the Church of Scotland World Mission Council's archive in Edinburgh has once again brought Jane's story into sharp focus, four years after the publication of a new book on the subject.

From Matron to Martyr – One Woman's Ultimate Sacrifice for the Jews (2012, Tate Publishing) is authored by New Zealander Lynley Smith, a distant relative who travelled the world to research details for her magnificent portrayal of this brave woman from Dunscore, near Dumfries – the only Scot to be honoured with a 'Righteous among the Nations' award by the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.

Commenting on the poignant discovery of her last will and testament, dated 2 July 1942 and bequeathing her typewriter, coat and other items to various people, council secretary Rev Ian Alexander said:

It is a wonderful document and tremendously exciting to have something that Jane Haining herself has written. It gives a sense she was fully aware of the risks she was taking...Scottish missionaries were advised to return home from Europe during the dark days of the Second World War, but Jane declined and wrote: 'If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness?' ¹

Jane Haining's life was snuffed out, aged 47, by Nazi butchers for the 'crime' of loving the Jewish girls under her care.

Beyond the Call of Duty

Jane had been living and working in the Glasgow area before taking on the role of matron at a girls' home in Budapest, Hungary – the boarding establishment of a school run by the Scottish Mission to Jews.

So dedicated was she to what she believed was her life's calling that she refused to leave her post when given several opportunities to escape, and even being ordered home by her superiors who feared for her safety. But more important to her was the safety of the Jewish girls under her care, already suffering under relentless discrimination and persecution even before the Nazis marched into their country.

Many of their parents were forcibly split up by the authorities as they sent the breadwinning Jewish men away, ostensibly to work camps, leaving families destitute and distressed.

The children often took refuge in the arms of Jane, who loved to comfort them with hugs and prayers of assurance. When she was forced by new laws to sew yellow stars onto the uniforms of her girls, she sobbed uncontrollably. And when some of the poorer pupils had no footwear, she effectively cut off any remaining ties with her homeland by using the soft leather of her suitcase to make soles for the girls' shoes.

She could identify with those who had lost parents as her mother died in childbirth when she was only five (her baby sister Helen lasting just 18 months) and her father died soon after remarrying, leaving his grieving widow pregnant.

Jane refused to leave her post when given several opportunities to escape, and even when ordered home by her superiors who feared for her safety.

Death, Where is Your Sting?

Jane was eventually arrested by the Gestapo on a series of charges which basically amounted to the fact that she showed too much concern for the Jews. Leaving her girls distraught, she was moved around various local prisons before being corralled into a cattle truck, crushed in with some 90 other women in conditions worse than animals would suffer, with access to neither water nor toilets for the long and tortuous journey to Auschwitz in south-west Poland.

She died soon afterwards, allegedly of natural causes. But since she had a strong constitution and had held up well even when sharing her food with her fellow inmates in an earlier prison, she is more likely to have been either shot or gassed, like so many of the million-plus Jews estimated to have perished at this most infamous of all death camps.

A postcard written two days before her death indicated no ill health, but hinted at her impending 'promotion' to meet with her Lord in heaven.

Intriguingly, in a chapter titled A View from the Summit early on in the book, the author imagines the scene of Jane's arrival in paradise, which serves the useful purpose of taking the sting out of the horrors that ensue in the narrative. Indeed, the Bible speaks of how the promise of resurrection removes the sting of death!

Delighted by the new discovery, author Lynley Smith told me: "It shows that Jane was well aware of the danger she was in – something I have always said. Bearing in mind that her Bible was miraculously rediscovered in 2010, I think God is keeping her story alive as its message – her example of loving the Jews enough to die for them – is so urgent for today."

Jane is likely to have been either shot or gassed, like so many of the million-plus Jews who perished at Auschwitz.

Reaping with Songs of Joy

The book has been translated into Hungarian, a key Budapest thoroughfare has been named after her and the government there has also honoured Jane for her sacrifice. But in truth, anti-Semitism there is once more on the rise, inflamed by the policies of the right-wing Jobbik Party.

In fact, little appears to have changed since those dark days in 1944. Lynley has told me how, on a recent visit to Budapest to launch the Hungarian translation of her book, she witnessed a group of skinheads racing through the city, one of them giving a 'Heil Hitler' salute as he dashed past a policeman.

In 2010 Jane was awarded a Hero of the Holocaust medal by the UK Government. Yet she had sought no honour in this world except to do the will of God and love his Chosen People. Meanwhile the Church of Scotland Mission in Budapest, which was home to a sizeable Jewish population in the 1930s, marked its 175^th anniversary last weekend.

As I was meditating recently on Psalm 126 – that "those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy" – I thought of Jane Haining, who wept uncontrollably as she was forced to sew yellow stars on the uniforms of the Jewish girls in her care. A harvest of life from the dead would surely follow, of which the re-birth of Israel was just the beginning.

As the Rabbi who wrote a foreword to Lynley's book said, "Jews need to know that true followers of Jesus are our friends."

References

1 Life of Scottish missionary who died in Auschwitz revealed. Jewish News, 15 September 2016.