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Lady Ryder of Warsaw
Margaret Susan Ryder was born on the 3rd July 1923 in Leeds, England. Her family had taught her the importance of helping the poor and the underprivileged. In 1939, aged just sixteen years, she enrolled to the Formation of First Aid Nurses.
During World War II, Sue Ryder served in the Polish section of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), which took care of diversions in occupied Europe. There she met underground rebels whose courage, determination and sacrifice had a great impact on her future. During her service, Sue Ryder began to perceive the immensity of human suffering. After the war was over, she helped prisoners from German concentration camps. At the same time, she visited the Allies' prisons, saving the lives of many condemned to death. After these experiences Sue Ryder became engrossed limitlessly in charity work for the ill, the homeless and those deprived of basic necessities. Soon after, her help spread to other continents.
In 1953, Sue Ryder created a foundation under her name. "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance, pray, love, remember" - this quotation from Hamlet and a branch of rosemary became the symbols of the Foundation. The Foundation became a living monument to the millions of people killed defending their ideals during the war. In fifteen countries the Sue Ryder Foundation created over eighty homes, which continue to serve the ill and the suffering.
Up to 1978, Sue Ryder organised holiday trips for ex-prisoners of concentration camps to the United Kingdom. Her husband Leonard Cheshire, a famous World War II hero and distinguished charity worker, helped Sue Ryder to initiate humanitarian events in many countries touched by human tragedy. To finance the Foundation, she opened over 600 charity shops.
Sue Ryder was granted the title doctor honoris causa of Universities in Liverpool, Exeter, Essex, Leeds, Kent, London and Cambridge. She was also decorated with the Order of St. Michael and St. George, the Order of the British Empire, the Commander Cross of the Order of Poland's Rebirth, the Order Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice and the Order Ecclesia Populoque Sevitium Praestanti.
For Sue Ryder, Poland was always a special place. In August of 1944 she organised ammunition airlifts for those fighting in the Warsaw Uprising. Immediately after the war, she travelled to Poland with an international group of voluntary workers to help the Poles. She built thirty Sue Ryder homes in the country, which served to help ill, lonely and homeless people.
In 1978, Sue Ryder was decorated by HRH Queen Elizabeth II, taking Warsaw as her titular residence. As Lady Ryder of Warsaw, she entered the British House of Lords, where for years she represented a Polish voice in England. She fought for human rights and the dignity of the ill and needy.
To continue her achievements, in 1992 Lady Ryder created a completely independent Sue Ryder Foundation in Poland. She felt at home in Poland and saw Poles as her fellow compatriots.
She was granted the Honorary Citizenship of the following cities: Warsaw, Gdynia and Konstancin. A roundabout in Gdynia, a street in Konstancin and a small park in Warsaw have all been named after her.
Lady Ryder of Warsaw, the woman who made her life a gift for the needy, died on the 2nd November 2000. Her memory and her ideals remain with us.
