Jane Mathison Haining was a Scottish missionary whose quiet bravery during World War II cost her life at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Born on 6th June 1897 at Lochenhead Farm near Dunscore in Dumfriesshire, Haining grew up in a deeply religious family and community. She excelled at school and later trained in secretarial work before spending a decade working in Paisley for thread manufacturer J & P Coats. It was during this time that she became involved in church activities and decided that her future lay in missionary work.
In 1932, she answered an appeal from the Church of Scotland to serve overseas and went to Budapest, Hungary, to work as matron at the Scottish Mission’s boarding house. The mission ran a school for Jewish and Christian girls, and Haining was responsible for the wellbeing, education and daily care of those in her charge.
When World War II began in 1939, Haining was on holiday in England. She and a colleague returned immediately to Hungary — a decision that shaped the rest of her life. At the outbreak of war the Church of Scotland advised her to return to Britain for her safety, but she refused, believing the girls needed her. It was later reported that she said: “If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness?”
In March 1944, Germany occupied Hungary and soon began the mass deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland. In late April 1944, Haining was arrested by the Gestapo on various charges — reportedly after a dispute with the mission’s cook — and taken to a transit camp before being deported to Auschwitz in May.
At Auschwitz she was registered for forced labour and survived for around two months, probably succumbing to starvation and the appalling conditions that claimed so many lives in the camp. A death certificate received in Scotland recorded that she died on 17th July 1944, at the age of 47.
Haining’s dedication did not go unrecognised. In 1997 she was posthumously honoured by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem as Righteous Among the Nations, a title given to non-Jews who put their lives at risk to protect Jews during the Holocaust. In 2010 she was also named a British Hero of the Holocaust. Her name is inscribed on the Garden of the Righteous in Jerusalem and memorials to her life stand in Scotland and Hungary.
Next week, on Tuesday 27th January 2026, a public commemoration will be held in Paisley at Coats Paisley on High Street, led by UNISON Renfrewshire in partnership with Renfrewshire Council and the Church of Scotland. The event will include a screening of the newly commissioned short film Jane Haining: A Mission of Love, the launch of new educational resources for local schools, musical performances and the unveiling of a commemorative mural that will be installed at Brown’s Lane and Shuttle Street in the town.
[…] Who was Jane Haining, the Scottish heroine remembered for courage and sacrifice? […]