Remembering Irena Sendler

A few days ago, a friend told me the remarkable story of Irena Sendler. Perhaps some of you know of it, although I did not. It's a story worth telling and retelling. With Holocaust Remembrance Day only a few days away (April 21, 2009), and as we approach the first anniversary of Irena's passing on May 12, 2008, I would like to remember Irena by telling you her story. I am indebted to the story of "Irena's Children" written by Gavriel Horan which you can find at http://richards-creations.net/Pages/8/_Irena-s_Children.html, as well as other sources, for the details which I am providing here. I will be brief and encourage you to read these accounts for yourselves. There are several internet sites which you will find useful.

Irena was born in Poland in 1910. She was a Catholic woman who along with a small group of 25 other courageous people, saved 2500 Jewish children from the Nazis by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto shortly before it was liquidated. They accomplished this amazing feat by hiding the children inside "sacks, boxes, body bags, or coffins". They took them out of the Ghetto and brought them to safety at the homes of brave families who were prepared to shelter them. They took them out through "sewers or underground tunnels or taken through an old courthouse or church next to the Ghetto". They did all of this and more at an incredible risk to their lives.

Not only did Irena save the lives of these children, but as Gavriel Horan notes, she did not want them to disappear from the Jewish people. Thus the names and new identities of the rescued children were written down on pieces of paper and the lists hidden in glass jars. In this way, the children could, as much as possible, be reunited with their families after the war. The play "Life in A Jar" was written as tribute to Irena Sendler and explains to some extent her story and how it has come to light. See http://www.irenasendler.org/.

Irena was arrested, imprisoned and tortured by the Gestapo in 1943. She suffered life long injuries. She was sentenced to death but escaped with the help of a bribed guard. She survived the war and lived in relative obscurity in Poland working as a social worker. Interestingly it was a class of students from a rural Kansas school who popularized her story in 1999, found that she was still alive living in Poland, and word of this woman spread world wide. It was these students who wrote the play "Life In A Jar".

Irena has been remembered in various ways since her courage came to light. She was honoured in 1965 as a Righteous Gentile by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and travelled to Israel in 1983 to receive her decoration in person. She received Poland's highest distinction, the Order of White Eagle, in 2003. She was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. The prize went to Al Gore for his narration of the film on Global Warming. She died the next year at the age of 98.

Every so often we learn of the existence of a person like Irena Sendler. We wish we could be a person more like her. We doubt that we would have her courage and conviction. Yet the fact that there are Irena Sendlers gives us faith in humanity. It sets a a goal towards which we should at least all strive.