The last will and testament of Jane Haining, a Scottish missionary who died in Auschwitz at the age of 47, was recently uncovered in a Scottish church's archives, alongside some 70 previously unseen photos of her and her Jewish students. Haining, a Church of Scotland missionary fluent in German and Hungarian, moved to Budapest in 1932 to work in a church boarding school, which during the war offered sanctuary to Jewish girls, most of them orphans. Despite being implored to do so by the church, Haining declined to leave Hungary and chose to continue her mission and protect her students. She was sent to Auschwitz after refusing to abandon the girls, and she is the only Scot honored as one of the Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum. The handwritten will and several of Haining's personal effects, including a radio, typewriter, fur coat, and watches, were found in a box in the archives of the Church of Scotland's World Mission Council in Edinburgh. Documents detailing efforts to release her from the concentration camp were also found. Given the historical value of the items, the church transferred them to the National Library of Scotland. Rev. Ian Alexander, secretary of the World Mission Council, told The Guardian that Haining's story was "one of heroism and personal sacrifice," and that "the discovery of a will gives a sense she was fully aware of the risks she was taking." Over the years, Haining has been honored in several ways: A street in Budapest is named after her, she has been named a British Hero of the Holocaust, and memorials in Scotland, Hungary and Israel bear her name.
