Hero of the Week 88

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This week's hero is...

Mary Elmes

Mary Elisabeth Jean Elmes was born on May 8, 1905, in Cork, Ireland. In 1928, she enrolled in Trinity College Dublin where she gained a first in the languages of French and Spanish. After she received a certificate in international studies joined the University of London's ambulance unit. In 1937, Elmes was sent to Almeria, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War. Once there, she worked at a children's hospital for those who had been wounded in the crossfire. Her experience during the Civil War in Spain would pale in comparison to what she would face in World War II.

In 1940, Elmes was present in Perpignan, France when the Nazis invaded and took over the country. France was then divided into two parts. Northern France was occupied by the Nazis while Southern France was under the control of a puppet government of collaborators (Vichy France). They soon began to aggressively target those who were deemed threats to the state or unfit to live. The Vichy government was more than willing to comply with the Nazi's demands.

By 1941, thousands of Jews in Vichy France had been arrested and transported to a transit camp in the commune of Rivesaltes. Conditions inside the camp were deplorable for those that were imprisoned within. It was highly infested with rats and lice and had very little shelter. Those that were able to survive at least a year in the camp soon found themselves on trains that took them to death camps located in Germany and Poland.

Although the country of Ireland had declared itself neutral during World War II, Mary Elmes had no intention of standing by while innocent people were being persecuted. She and a group of volunteers decided to try and smuggle some people out of Rivesaltes. Elmes personally oversaw their transfer to safe-houses and to neutral Spain, beyond the Nazis's reach. She personally bundled six children in the boot of her car and drove out of the camp to a shelter. After doing this, Elmes returned to the camp and brought out another six. 

Unfortunately, her actions caught the eye of the German Gestapo. In January of 1943, Elmes was arrested and imprisoned in Toulouse and later Paris. For a period of six months, she was held at the notorious Fresnes Prison. While this was happening, more than 2,000 prisoners were transferred from the Rivesaltes transit camp to a notorious death camp near Lublin, Poland. It was a place called, Majdanek. Most of them would not survive. 

For her part, Mary Elmes had successfully rescued more than 400 people (mostly children) from being deported. She survived the war and returned to humanitarian work in France. She eventually got married to a Frenchman and had two children. For her heroic work during World War II, Elmes was awarded France's Legion of Honor (however she declined the award on the grounds of unwanted attention). She passed away on March 9, 2002, at the age of 93. In 2015, Mary Elmes was posthumously awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by Israel. She was the first (and so far only) Irish citizen to receive such an award. 

The heroism and humanity shown by Mary Elmes was among the bravest and most noble during World War II. Although her country chose to not get involved in the conflict, she committed herself to doing what she could to help people in need. She is definitely someone who should be held in high regard.

https://hetireland.org/programmes/mary-elmes-prize/mary-elmes-biography/

https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/arid-30953568.html

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/corkwoman-helped-jewish-brothers-and-many-others-avoid-auschwitz-1.454767