Mary Elmes

Marie Elisabeth Jean Elmes (5 May 1908 – 9 March 2002)[2] was an Irish aid worker credited with saving the lives of at least 200 Jewish children during the Holocaust, by hiding them in the boot of her car.[1][2][4] In 2015, she became the first and only Irish person honoured as Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel, in recognition of her work in the Spanish Civil War and World War II.[1][5][6][7]

Mary Elmes
Born
Marie Elisabeth Jean Elmes[1][2]

5 May 1908[1][2]
Cork, Ireland[1][2]
Died(2002-03-09)9 March 2002
(aged 93 years, 308 days)
Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales France[3][4]
Known forSaving Jewish children from the Nazis, and being the only Irish person to receive the Righteous Among the Nations award
Spouse(s)Roger Danjou[2]
Children2 children[1]
* Caroline
* Patrick

Biography
Winthrop Street in Cork's city centre. The pharmacy was located where McDonald's is shown (4 Winthrop Street)[8][9]

Elmes was born on 5 May 1908 in Cork, Ireland to chemist Edward Elmes and Elizabeth (née Waters). Edward Elmes was originally from Waterford, and moved to Cork after qualifying as a pharmacist, to run a pharmacy on Winthrop Street, while Waters grew up in Cork.[1][10][11] She had one brother, John, who later took over the family business.[1][7]

Elmes attended Rochelle School in Cork and then in 1928 enrolled at Trinity College Dublin where she was elected a Scholar, and gained a first in Modern Literature (French and Spanish).[12][10][11] In 1935, as a result of her academic achievements, Elmes was awarded a scholarship in International Studies to study at London School of Economics. She received a certificate in International Studies as well as a further scholarship to continue her education in Geneva, Switzerland.[10][11][3][5][6][7]

Spanish Civil War

In February 1937, after the completion of her studies, Elmes joined the University of London Ambulance Unit and was sent to a children's hospital in Almeria in then war-torn Spain.[2][13][7]

Saving Jewish Children

In 1942, the Vichy authorities made it clear that Jewish children were not legally allowed to be exempt from being sent to the concentration camps, as they had been. Elmes, with help from some colleagues, rescued dozens of children, taking them to safe houses or helping them flee the country altogether. Well aware that she was putting herself at risk, Elmes hid many children in the boot of her car and drove them to safe destinations. She aided many others by securing documents, which allowed for them to escape through the undercover network in Vichy France. She was not a Quaker herself, despite sometimes being described as the "head of the Quaker delegation at Perpignan," but worked actively with local Quaker organisations.[1][2][14][15]

In January[12] (or February[4]) 1943, Elmes was arrested on suspicion of aiding the escape of Jews[12] and was imprisoned in Toulouse,[4] later being moved to the notorious Fresnes Prison run by the Gestapo near Paris, where she spent six months.[4][12][11][7]

Personal life

Elmes married and had two children, and lived on after the war in Pyrénées-Orientales (Northern Catalonia) where she had been active, first in Perpignan and then in Canet-en-Roussillon and Sainte-Marie-la-Mer.[16] She died in a nursing home there.[1]

Honours

After the war Elmes was awarded the Legion of Honour (French:Légion d'honneur), the highest civilian award in France at the time, which she refused to accept on the grounds of unwanted attention for what she did.[10][4] On 23 January 2013, 11 years after her death, having been nominated by one of the children she rescued, she was posthumously recognised by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, her children and grandchildren receiving the award on her behalf,[4][7] and on 30 September 2016, she was posthumously awarded the Trish Murphy Award at the Network Ireland Business Woman of the Year awards in Cork, which was accepted by her nephew, Mark Elmes, on behalf of her family.[11][7] On the 25th of February 2019 it was announced by Cork City Council [17] that a new pedestrian bridge linking Patrick's Quay to Merchant's Quay would be named after Mary Elmes. It was opened to the public on the 9th of July 2019.

The Mary Elmes Prize in Holocaust Studies distributed by the Holocaust Educational Trust Ireland is named after Elmes.[18]

References
  1. Finn, Clodagh (17 September 2016). "Meet Mary Elmes: The Irish woman who saved children from the horror of WWII concentration camps". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. Wilson, Bernard (28 April 2012). "Mary Elmes 1908 – 2002". Toulouse Quakers. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  3. "Justes et persécutés durant la période nazie - Mary-Elmes". www.ajpn.org (in French). Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  4. Forsythe, David. "The incredible life of Mary Elmes, Ireland's "Righteous Among the Nations"". westcorktimes.com. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  5. "Cork woman receives first Irish honour for saving Jewish victims of the Holocaust". The Irish Times. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  6. Sheridan, Colette (14 September 2016). "New play tells of the Cork woman who helped Jewish children escape the Nazis". Irish Examiner. Dublin. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  7. "Irish woman who was dedicated to saving lives during the Holocaust to be honoured for the first time in Ireland". Cork Chamber of Commerce. 19 September 2016. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  8. Guy's City and County Cork Almanac and Directory for 1907 (Business Directory). Cork. 1907. p. 193. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  9. Berker, Tommy (3 July 2014). "They're lovin' it". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  10. Butler, Paddy (31 January 2012). "Corkwoman helped Jewish brothers and many others avoid Auschwitz". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  11. "'Irish Schindler' to be honoured in Cork". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  12. Butler, Patrick (15 May 2013). "Cork woman receives first Irish honour for saving Jewish victims of the Holocaust". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  13. Crossey, Ciaran. "Irish non-combatants in Spain during the SCW". irelandscw.com. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  14. Butler, Paddy. "Righteous Among the Nations – An Irishman's Diary on Mary Elmes, who saved Jewish children in wartime France". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  15. "MARY ELMES / 'The Irish Oskar Schindler'". www.herstory.ie. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  16. (in French) La villa Saint Christophe à Canet Plage : le secours aux enfants du camp de Rivesaltes (1941-1943) on cultureetpatrimoinevillelonguet.blogspot.com
  17. https://twitter.com/corkcitycouncil/status/1100099096017281026
  18. https://hetireland.org/the-mary-elmes-prize-in-holocaust-studies/
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