In Memoriam - Mary Banotti

I first encountered Mary Banotti during her time as an MEP when she expressed her support for the rights of Soviet Jews who were experiencing persecution in the USSR during the 1970s and 80s and became a champion of the Irish Council for Soviet Jews. She attended meetings about Soviet Jews in the European Parliament and sent through regular reports on the various resolutions and issues about which the European Parliament was able to express concerns. Mary gave a voice to those who could not speak out.

In 2002, when a group came together to form an ad-hoc committee to commemorate Ireland’s first Holocaust Memorial Day, Mary’s advice was invaluable. The first thing she did was make out a personal cheque which she handed to me with the words, “You have to do this, Lynn, do not waver in your resolve”. She then became one of the original founding trustees of Holocaust Education Ireland in 2005.  She served on the Board for 12 years and attended every Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration and participated in many until she became too frail just a couple of years ago.  She made herself available to speak at a myriad of our events, in schools, at launches of the Crocus Project and at our exhibitions – even volunteering to act as a guide for the Anne Frank exhibition in 2006 and for the Polish exhibition in 2015.  She attended several of our educational courses and she came on our study visits to Kraków/Auschwitz and to Berlin. She never lost interest in our work right up to the end , and in what was going on. Mary was steadfast in her support for Holocaust education and remembrance in Ireland and a true friend.

To her daughter, Tania, her sister, Nora, all of her family and very wide circle of friends everywhere, we extend our deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences.

- Lynn Jackson, Founding Trustee and Director of Education