The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Church linked to Scot who died in Holocaust reopens after revamp
A village church with close links to a Scot who died in Auschwitz has reopened after a major refurbishment.
Nearly 200 people attended a rededication service at Dunscore Church, near Dumfries, on Sunday.
The project took three years to complete after water damage was discovered around the tower, roof and walls.
A heritage centre has also been opened following the refurbishment and celebrates the life of Church of Scotland missionary Jane Haining, who grew up in the village.
She was arrested by the Nazis in 1944 for harbouring Jewish girls at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest, Hungary.
The 47-year-old was eventually taken to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp in Nazioccupied Poland where she died.
A memorial cairn for Miss Haining, who was the matron at the boarding school between 1932 and 1944 and looked after Christian and Jewish girls, stands near the church.
Reverend Jannie du Plessis led the rededication service.
The minister said: “We are delighted by the transformation of our church building and pleased to have been able to share this with so many friends at our celebratory service.
“We now have a warm, dry and comfortable worship space that is suitable for all manner of services, whether traditional or less formal.”
Photographs, a video, letters, a copy of Jane Haining’s handwritten last will and testament and her Hero of the Holocaust Medal are among the items on display at the heritage centre
The exhibition also focuses on the history of the A-listed church building which dates back to 1823.