The Sacrifice of Irena Sendler
Listed in: Inspirational Stories
There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena (1910-2008). During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a plumbing/sewer specialist. The truth is, she had an ‘ulterior motive’ as she knew the Nazi’s plans were for the Jews.
As a German, Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried. For bigger kids, she carried it in the back of her truck. She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.
The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. During the period, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids.
She was caught eventually, and the Nazis broke her legs, arms and beat her severely.
Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept the list in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war is over, she tried to locate their parents that may have survived and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.
Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected.
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