The Heroic Tale of Irena Sendler: Defying the Nazis
Irena Sendler was a social worker in Warsaw who began smuggling children out of the ghetto. The Gestapo suspected her, but they couldn't prove anything. They tortured her, but she didn't break. Faced with execution, her life took an unexpected turn.
- יהוסף יעבץ
- פורסם כ"א שבט התשפ"ד
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In the Jewish month of Elul, 1942, Irena Sendler was taken from the Gestapo's dungeons in Warsaw to the large courtyard behind their building, the site of many executions. She stood in line with 38 other prisoners, all facing a firing squad, a common scene with the nefarious Nazis.
As the executioners aligned at a distance, a Nazi guard suddenly broke ranks, approached Irena, and, pulling her by the neck, dragged her to a corner. Hidden from sight, he opened a small gate and pushed her through, to the street. Irena took off running and disappeared into an alley.
Irena Sendler was a social worker with the Warsaw Department of Welfare. At 30, when World War II erupted, and the Nazis confined Jews in the ghetto, Irena requested permission from authorities to conduct inspections in the ghetto "to prevent disease." Each visit, she smuggled in medicines, food, clothing, and money for the struggling Jews.
Over time, Irena began to smuggle children out of the ghetto—sometimes hidden in her vehicle, under seats, on trams, and occasionally beneath her long coat. She saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto!
Understanding the peril she faced from the Nazis, Irena meticulously recorded the names and families of each child she saved, along with their new homes. She stored these records in sealed glass jars in her garden and informed the Jewish resistance of their location.
In Elul 1942, the Gestapo suspected her but couldn’t prove a thing, thanks to her careful maneuvers. They tortured her, but she never uttered a word, and as a precaution, they decided to execute her.
Jewish underground members managed to bribe a Nazi official to spare her at the last moment, and thus her life was miraculously saved.
After the war, the Communists viewed her with suspicion due to her collaboration with the British government, which they despised. Yet, she survived this threat as well, by the grace of Heaven. Irena is commemorated worldwide, with a street in Ramat Gan in her honor.
On her 95th birthday, many of the children she rescued came to visit her. She passed away with honor in 2008.
