A Daughter of Charity who saved a family of French Jews from the Nazis is the only Righteous Gentile to be omitted from a list of British heroes compiled by a Holocaust charity, according to the Catholic Herald. Sister Agnes was born Clare Walsh in Hull in 1896 and entered the Daughters of Charity in 1916, working first in Ireland and then in Palestine. Following a fall she was sent to St Vincent de Paul Convent in Cadouin in Dordogne, France, to recuperate and when war broke out found herself in occupied territory. See the full story at Catholic Herald.
Daughter of Charity left out of Holocaust Memorial in England.
by John Freund, CM | May 28, 2009 | Vincentian Family | 5 comments
The problem is British. It shows another time that some British governmental organizations have problems with honoring and recognition of history which is not ‘politically convenient’. Yad Vashem is very, very diligent. If they recognized Sr. Agnes as Rightous Among Nations it means Righteous she is. But some “clerks” must have problem with undersatnding, tha a British religious woman, Catholic nun, might be honored for saving French Jews lives. The sooner they correct the fault (it is not mistake) the better. On the other hand Polish mathematics did not received their proper recognition from British authorities for their essential contribution in solving Enigma code. So, are British authorities. They have problem with proper and righteous attitude toward history.
On the other hand it worth to mention that Msgr Albin Malysiak CM and posthumously, Sr. Bronislawa Wilemska DC were honored Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem Institute in 1993 for saving lives of some Jewish people hidden in the elderly and nursery home in Krakow, Poland for most of the WWII. Bishop Malysiak was additionally honored by Polish President one of the highest national medal for his actions to defend human dignity and human rights.
“The problem is British.” How wonderfully bigoted. An omission by a private charity, which has consistently lobbied for continuing attention to the historical significance of the holocaust, and immediately the British government is accused of something. Read the article. Read the HET website. Read the PMs speech. And please, refrain from accusing entire countries based on their government’s actions.
Yes, the government of any country cannot be blamed for faults of small private charity. Our historic experience is different. Some historic moments, not only from WWII are case sensitive for us. I, probably, will not understand nuances of Civil War from European perspective. I can expect that your, American, perspective of WWII is different than ours. I didn’t want to hurt and bother anyone. I just wanted to notice, that such accidental “omission” of private charity is not only paperwork fault. This time Daughter of Charity was forgotten. Another time it will be another person.
It is not good to emphasize significance of Holocaust more than it should be. But we cannot forget all the people who in the time of Nazi occupation of Europe risked their own lives and lives of their families to rescue and save other people’s lives, not only Jewish lives.
And there is my personal experience from living behind Iron Courtain, where some truth was official and some was illegal for many years.
The main point is, that good deeds and heroic acts should never be forgotten by any government, charity or society. Recently there is growing trend to deny that KLs ever existed or to input that Holocaust is a common responsibility of occupying Nazis and occupied nations. I hope the charity will update their memorial. And I’m sure that Sr Agnes helped those Jews because they needed help and asked for rescue. For years Msgr Malysiak avoided bein awarded Righteous because he declared, that he did do nothing special. His actions to help Jews were an act of his priestly heart and conscience. He emphasized that he did what a Christian and priest should do.
I’m a DC belonging to the British Province. I have contacted the Holocaust Educational Trust pointing out the omission of Sr Agnes and the mistake will be rectified. So all shall be well & I’m sure Sr Agnes, now rejoicing in heaven with all those she loved, served & saved, won’t mind being “overlooked” one bit! Still, it is right & fitting that we see to it that she is given due recognition.
Am glad you’re on top of this, Maureen. As you say, in all humility, she doesn’t mind, however…truth needs to be inclusive.And also, the international DC website looks great.
Enjoyed your prayer video too. Thanks, Marguerite