Video about
Irena,
Music
Video about Irena - God's Soldier of Peace, Gken Beck -
Video about Irena
Who is a hero? Sometimes it seems that a hero can be only a person
whose actions are known to others. Good people are known to make good
things. But what if somebody seems not to take any actions but in fact
helps many people in secret? Unfortunately nowadays heroism is defined
by intensity of publications that are made. If we are not aware of
somebody’s heroism, he is not a hero to us. But there are many
individuals who would act in the aim of just, without boasting of that
fact, and were forgotten. The same almost happened to Irena Sendler, a
simple woman who saved thousands of lives.
She was born in 1910 as a daughter of Polish doctor. She was social
worker. She was a woman of weak health (as most of her youth she spent
in old Polish Spa that was to help her to recover) but of great will.
When the war broke out, Irena started to help poor Jewish citizens of
Warsaw. She continued to offer them her support when they were all
moved to Warsaw Ghetto. When entering the area of Ghetto, Irena Sendler
would wear David’s star not to be recognized from its citizens and to
show solidarity with people crowded there. In December 1942 she became
a leader of child support department within Council to Aid Jews
(underground organization of Polish resistance).
She organized the action of smuggling Jewish children out of the ghetto
and placing them in Polish families and other places where they could
survive the war. One of such places was the convents of Franciscan
nuns, that agreed to take any child that would require help and place
them between Polish children in orphanages run by nuns.
The task of getting out Jewish children was not as easy as it seems
now. Ghetto was a closed area surrounded with walls and guarded by
Nazis. One needed connections (and money) to be able to get through
secret way out. Apart from this some of the children had not spoken
Polish (before they were placed in Polish families) but only Yiddish
that they used with their Jewish relations. One mistake, one omission
could decide about child’s life and the future of family that was
hiding it – especially that hiding a Jew in Poland was forbidden and
punished with death.
It is estimated that Irena saved about 2500 Jewish children. Their
records would be written down on small pieces of paper (that Irena hid
in a jar) to enable them to find their relations. Although Irena
Sendler was very cautious with her actions she was betrayed and
imprisoned by Gestapo. She was tortured and sentenced to death. Zegota,
how the previously mentioned Council to Aid Jews was called, paid a big
bribe to save her life. The death punishment was performed only on
paper (what means that officially she was shot by Gestapo).
The new government of post war Poland, that was against Polish Home
Army (resistance movement of WW II that Irena was associated with),
made people like Mrs Sendler silent – they were not allowed to speak
about what they did. The history of her and her helpers remained
unknown in Poland and outside. But this is not where Sendler’s
misfortune ceased. She was imprisoned and tortured also by communist
Ministry of Public Security of Poland.
Although already in 1965 she was honored by Israeli Yad Vashem
organization as Righteous among the Nations, her history was not widely
known until 1999. This is when American teacher inspired students to
make to make a theatre play based on the life and actions of Irena
Sendler. When he got to know what she did, he could not believe that a
woman, who saved twice as many Jews as Oscar Schindler, is not
recognized worldwide. After the success of the play more and more
people started to talk and ask about the history of Irena Sendler. Her
history became popular, especially when a movie about her saving ghetto
Jewish kids was made in 2009 (called The Courageous Heart of Irena
Sendler).
Irena Sendler died in 2008 at the age of 98. Her life still inspires
many.