British Hero of the Holocaust: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|A special national awardAward given by the UK government of the United Kingdom in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust}}

The '''British Hero of the Holocaust''' award is a special national award given by the [[government of the United Kingdom]] in recognition of British citizens who assisted in [[List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust|rescuing victims]] of [[the Holocaust]]. On 9 March 2010, it was awarded to 25 individuals [[Posthumous recognition|posthumously]]. The award is a solid silver medallion, and bears the inscription "in the service of humanity" in recognition of "selfless actions" which "preserved life in the face of persecution.".<ref name="Telegraph 2010-03-09" />

Under the official [[Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom|British honours system]] honours cannot be awarded posthumously, so the Trust's campaign sought to have the honours system changed, to allow the awarding of either [[Order of the British Empire|an MBE or an OBE]] posthumously to British rescuers such as Frank Foley.<ref name="BirminghamPost 2009-03-26" /><ref name="ScotsmanLetter 2008-08-31" /><ref name="Times 2009-04-28" /> On 7 May 2008, the 50th anniversary of the death of Foley, the Trust filed an [[internet petition]] titled 'UK-Rescuers' on the [[10 Downing Street]] website, to call on the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] to reconsider the laws governing the posthumous honours system.<ref name="ScotsmanLetter 2008-08-31" /><ref name="ScotsmanLetter 2008-08-31" /><ref name="Times 2009-04-28" /><ref name=UKRescuersNumber10Petition /> With a deadline for signatories of 7 May 2009, the petition ultimately gathered 1,087 signatories.<ref name=UKRescuersNumber10Petition /> It had stated:<ref name="UKRescuersNumber10Petition" />

...[Foley] was never formally honoured by the British nation during his lifetime for his actions. We therefore call on the Government to review the current statutes governing the honours system, so that the [[Honours Committee]] can consider awarding a posthumous knighthood to Frank Foley. We hope that this will open the way for the Honours Committee to consider recognition for other British heroes of the Holocaust, including [[Randolph Churchill]], Sergeant [[Charles Coward]], [[Jane Haining]], [[Tommy Noble]] and [[Robert Smallbones]], who risked and in some cases gave their own lives to save others...<ref name=UKRescuersNumber10Petition />

Through 2008 and 2009 the campaign attracted support from the media as well as members of parliament, both in the UK parliamentParliament and in the [[Scottish Parliament]], citing the particular examples of Foley, Ravenhall and Haining.<ref name="BirminghamPost 2009-03-26" /><ref name="Scotsman 2009-02-14" /><ref name="DumfriesStandard 2009-01-02" /><ref name="BBCNews 2008-12-29" /><ref name="HakesowenNews 2008-06-25" /> In March 2009, the MP [[Russell Brown (Scottish politician)|Russell Brown]] tabled the [[early day motion]] ''Recognition for British Heroes of the Holocaust'' in Westminster citing the examples of Foley, Haining and Ravenhall, securing 135 signatories.<ref name=EarlyDayMotion1175 />

* [[Princess Alice of Battenberg|Princess Alice of Greece and Denmark]]

** Ida Cook (a.k.a.who novelistwrote under the pen name [[Mary Burchell]])

** [[Louise Cook (humanitarian)|Louise Cook]]

The recipients in 2013 and 2015 were:<ref name="GOV.UK 2013-04-15" /><ref name="YT 2013-04-25" />

* [[Solomon Schonfeld]], a rabbi who saved hundreds of jewsJews from theextermination Death Campscamps by acquiring visas which allowed them to escape the Nazis.

* [[Robert Smallbones]] Consul General in Frankfurt who went far beyond the call of duty to ensure that Jewish families were given visas to save their lives, gave refuge to hundreds in his home and visited Concentration Camps to demand the release of interned jewsJews.

* [[Arthur Ernest Dowden|Arthur Dowden]] vice-Consul General in Frankfurt who went far beyond the call of duty to save lives by issuing visas and by going through the streets distributing food in the days when Jews were not allowed to receive it.

* A group of 6ten British prisoners of war who risked execution to save the life of Hannah Sara Rigler.

** [[Stanley Wells (prisoner of war)|Stanley Wells]]

* (There is another in this group of POWs yet to receive the award, because he and or his relatives remain untraced in 2015.<ref name{{CN|date="DE 2015-03-27"August />2024}})

In January 2018, eight awards were presented.<ref name=EHalon>{{cite web |author=Eytan Halon|url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Britain-honors-eight-Holocaust-heroes-for-saving-Jewish-lives-539726|title=Britain honors eight holocaustHolocaust 'heroes' for saving jewishJewish lives|date=28 January 2018|accessdateaccess-date=9 May 2019|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/britain-honours-its-holocaust-heroes |title=Britain honours its Holocaust heroes |date=23 January 2018 |website=UK Government |accessdateaccess-date=3 July 2019}}</ref>

* [[John Carvell]]

* Sir [[Thomas Hildebrand Preston, 6th Baronet|Thomas Preston]]

* [[Dorothea WebberWeber (humanitarian)|Dorothea Weber]]

* [[Otto Schiff (humanitarian)|Otto Schiff]]

* [[Rose Henriques]]<ref name=HStewart>{{cite news |author=Heather Stewart|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/07/theresa-may-backs-building-of-holocaust-centre-near-parliament|title=Theresa May backs building of Holocaust centre near parliament |date=7 May 2019|accessdateaccess-date=8 May 2019|work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Prime Minister leads unprecedented support for Holocaust Memorial as further £25m committed |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-leads-unprecedented-support-for-holocaust-memorial-as-further-25m-committed |website=Gov.uk |access-date=16 September 2023| quote=Lady Rose L. Henriques CBE, née Loewe, (1889-1972): Henriques was the daughter of James Loewe, a community worker and scholar in the Stoke Newington area of London. The couple worked on a number of joint enterprises together. From 1914 until 1948, they were the joint wardens of the St George’s Jewish Settlement in Stepney, later known as the Bernhard Baron St George’s Jewish Settlement. When the war ended, Henriques went to Germany where she worked alongside a number of Jewish welfare groups at the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and then at the nearby displaced persons camp.}}</ref>

<ref name="BBCNews 2008-12-29">{{Cite news
| title = Award call for 'Scots Schindler'

| url-status = livedead

| archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5o6sE644Tweb/20090215155800/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7803163.stm

| date = 29 December 2008
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 915 MarchFebruary 20102009

}}</ref>

<ref name="BBCNews 2009-04-24">{{Cite news
| title = Holocaust heroine honour pursued

| url-status = livedead

| archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5o6s4xlzDweb/20090427093320/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8014841.stm

| date = 24 April 2009
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 927 MarchApril 20102009

}}</ref>

<ref name="BBCNews 2009-04-29">{{Cite news
| title = New award for heroes of Holocaust

| url-status = livedead

| archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5o6s0K8cEweb/20090503023535/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8023280.stm

| date = 29 April 2009
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 93 MarchMay 20102009

}}</ref>

| date = 29 April 2009 | access-date = 9 March 2010 | archive-date = 928 MarchJanuary 20102013

| date = 9 March 2010 | access-date = 9 March 2010 | archive-date = 715 October 2012

<ref name="DumfriesStandard 2009-01-02">{{Cite news
| title = Plea for honour for woman of courage

| url-status = unfitdead

| date = 2 January 2009
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 9 MarchAugust 20102011

}}</ref>

| archive-url = https://wwwarchive.webcitationtoday/20100309215114/http://edmi.orgparliament.uk/5o6rw5aF8EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=38295

<ref name="HakesowenNews 2008-06-25">{{Cite news
| title = Honour appeal for 'British Schindler'

| url-status = livedead

| date = 25 June 2008
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 928 MarchJuly 20102011

}}</ref>

<ref name="Hansard 2009-04-29">{{Cite news
| title = British Heroes of the Holocaust

| url-status = livedead

| date = 29 April 2009
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 924 MarchApril 2010

}}</ref>

| archive-url = https://archive.today/20100309214955/http://www.webcitationhet.org.uk/5o6rqRrETcontent.php?page_id=533

<ref name="Scotsman 2009-02-14">{{Cite news
| title = MSPs support Holocaust hero campaign

| last = Maddox
| first = David

| newspaper = The Scotsman
| location = Edinburgh

| url-status = livedead

| archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5o6s7eZ0Vweb/20090903122345/http://news.scotsman.com/holocaust/MSPs-support-Holocaust-hero-campaign.4980721.jp

| date = 14 February 2009
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 93 MarchSeptember 20102009

}}</ref>

<ref name="ScotsmanLetter 2008-08-31">{{Cite news
| title = Honour our brave Holocaust Scots

| last = Pollock
| first = Karen (chief executive, Holocaust Educational Trust)

| newspaper = The Scotsman
| department = Letters
| location = Edinburgh

| url-status = livedead

| archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5o6sNkmOgweb/20110604165845/http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Honour-our-brave-Holocaust-Scots.4443510.jp

| date = 31 August 2008
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 94 MarchJune 20102011

}}</ref>

<ref name="Telegraph 2010-03-09">{{Cite news
| title = Britons honoured for holocaust heroism

| newspaper = The TelegraphDaily Telegraph
| location = London

| date = 9 March 2010
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 912 March 2010

}}</ref>

<ref name="Times 2009-04-28">{{Cite news
| title = New award for unforgotten heroes

| last = Wilson
| first = Fiona

| newspaper = The Times
| location = London

| url-status = unfitdead

| archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5o6rnVjgfweb/20110605012007/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6188250.ece

| date = 28 April 2009
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 95 MarchJune 20102011

}}</ref>

<ref name=UKRescuersNumber10Petition>{{Cite web
| title = UK-Rescuers

| url = http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/UK-Rescuers/
| url-status = unfitdead

| archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5o6sKSGFkweb/20091211143418/http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/UK-Rescuers/

| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 911 MarchDecember 20102009

}}</ref>

<ref name=UKRescuersNumber10PetitionResponse>{{Cite web
| title = UK-Rescuers – epetition response

| url = http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19790
| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/5o6sIkoalweb/20091207155153/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page19790

| date = 26 June 2009
| access-date = 9 March 2010
| archive-date = 97 MarchDecember 20102009

}}</ref>