This week's hero is...
Irena Sendler
Irena Sendler was born on February 15, 1910 in the town of Otwock about 15 miles southeast of Warsaw, Poland. Although she was a Roman Catholic, most of the residents in Otwock were Jewish. As a result, she grew up with many Jewish friends. She was greatly influenced by her parents who were quite friendly with the community and raised her value for all her neighbors regardless of their differences. As a young woman, her values would be put to the ultimate test.
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. By the month of October, they were full control of the country. Almost immediately, the Nazis began to persecute Poland's Jewish population. Those in the city of Warsaw were one of the Nazi's main targets. In November 1940, as many as 400,000 Jews were forced to move into a 1.3 mile complex called a ghetto. Once they were inside, the Nazis walled up the ghetto and sealed it off from the outside world. The conditions in the Warsaw ghetto were deplorable. Its inhabitants suffered from lack of food and medical supplies. This coupled with very poor hygienic conditions and occasional abuse from the Nazi guards caused thousands to die on a daily basis.
At the time, Irena was working as a Senior Administrator for the Warsaw Social Welfare Department (a humanitarian organization). After seeing the eviction of Warsaw's Jews into the ghetto and hearing of the terrible conditions, she decided to do what she could to help them. As an employee of the WSWD, she was granted a special permit that allowed her to enter the ghetto under the pretext of conducting sanitary inspections. Upon entering, she witnessed the horrible treatment of the Jews firsthand. She then resolved to do everything in her power to help them. In the Fall of 1942, Irena joined Zegota. This wan an underground network made up of Poles who were dedicated to helping Jews in Warsaw. Their main method was to smuggle people out of the ghetto and to secret hiding places in or outside the city.
At first, Irena and other members of Zegota smuggled out orphans living on the ghetto's streets. Later, she would meet with Jewish parents and asked them to let her get their children out and placed with a Polish family. Although many of the parents were reluctant to do this they relented when Irena promised them, that their children would be returned to them when the war was over. Irena always wrote detailed lists (which she kept in a jar) of the hidden children and their locations so that the families could be reunited. For the next year, Irena smuggled at least 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto.
Unfortunately, the Gestapo became suspicious of her activities and arrested her on October 18, 1943. She was then imprisoned in a notorious prison (the Pawiak) for several days. Despite being severely beaten and tortured (she never fully recovered from her injuries) she refused to give the Gestapo any information. As a result she was sentenced to be executed. Luckily, Irena's guards received a bribe from members of Zegota. On the day of her execution, they simply left her in the woods and listed her as executed. Irena spent the remainder of the war in hiding.
At the end of World War II, Irena worked to track down the hidden children and reunite them with their families. Sadly most of children's the parents and extended family had all been murdered at death camps like Treblinka. Of the more than 400,000 people who had been imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto (including 80,00 children) just over 1 percent survived the war.
In 1965, Irena Sendler was recognized and honored by Israel as one of the Righteous among the Nations. She became an honorary citizen in 1991. For the rest of her life, Irena Sendler lived in Warsaw where she worked in education. She was often visited by many of the children that she had rescued. Despite being hailed an international hero, Irena never thought of herself that way and often lamented for not being able to save more people than she had. Irena Sendler passed away on May 12, 2008. She was 98 years old.
Irena Sendler was one of the bravest and most remarkable individuals in history. In one of the greatest tragedies in human history, she was one of the few who saw the horror and chose to take action. She displayed great courage and compassion for those in need. As a direct result of her actions, more than 2,500 people survived the Holocaust. I believe that she should be recognized as one of the greatest heroes in history.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/irena-sendler
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/righteous-women/sendler.asp
http://www.auschwitz.dk/sendler.htm
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-379-egota
https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/939081/jewish/Irena-Sendler.htm
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