There’s a great line in the play The History Boys by the character Mrs Lintott. “History,” she says, “is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men. What is history? History is women following behind with the bucket.”
With Remembrance Day fast approaching, I plan to post articles over the next couple of weeks featuring four remarkable and brave women who supposedly followed behind, but in fact led the way; Ida Cook, Dr Elsie Inglis, Nurse Edith Cavell and Dame Margot Turner.
IDA COOK
Writing under the name Mary Burchell, Ida Cook (1904-1986) wrote over 125 romance novels for Mills and Boon (Harlequin). She also helped found The Romantic Novelists Association in the UK and served as its president for many years.
An impressive CV in itself, but perhaps the proudest moment of Ida’s life came in 1965 when she and her sister, Mary Louise, were honoured as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel.
During the 1930s, funded by money earned from her romance novels, Ida and her sister helped 29 Jews escape the murderous regime of Nazi Germany.
At that time, Jews were forced leave all their wealth and possessions behind if they wished to leave Germany. Countries around the world, including Britain, refused entry to Jews unless they brought their wealth and possessions with them. An evil Catch-22.
Under the scrutiny of the Nazi security forces, Ida and Mary Louise sought out Jews in need. Using their love of opera and their connections with famous opera singers of the day, they visited Germany and Austria, supposedly to attend concerts. In reality, these two modest sisters carried little with them as they entered the country, but left wearing jewellery belonging to Jews desperate to flee the Nazi regime, thus allowing their owners to meet the stringent UK immigration requirements. Ida and her sister put themselves at great risk in their attempt to save as many lives as they could. Had they been discovered they would certainly have faced imprisonment in one of Hitler’s concentration camps, if not worse.
Ida Cook. (And Mary Louise.) Romance writer. Genuine Heroines.
Safe Passage: The Remarkable True Story of Two Sisters Who Rescued Jews from the Nazis by Ida Cook (Nov 1 2008)
Diana Cranstoun 
What brave women! And, pioneering! I always worry that these real heroic stories might get mislaid in the annals of time. Everyone should know about them! I’m looking forward to reading more!
Glad you enjoyed it, Lorraine. All four of the women I’m profiling are inspirational, but my personal favourite is the last one – Dame Margot Turner. I actually met her and would love to see a movie made of her life in WW2. The thing that strikes me about ‘genuine’ heroes/heroines is how modest and humble they tend to be. Ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances.
What fantastic ladies. I am always amazed at how strong our pioneering ladies were. I read some of her books without knowing. (My mom always got all the Harlequins). Thanks for sharing who she was and what an impact she made on people’s lives.
Glad you enjoyed it, Mary. I find their bravery awe inspiring. Can you imagine if they’d been caught!
It’s nice to know of other women back then who helped so many Jews escape Germany. It certainly falls in line with Remembrance Day coming up 🙂
I agree. I think women are amazing. They go about things quietly, modestly and behind the scenes, but do such wonderful work!