Hanukkah and Christmas Day, two days of light and hope, are perfect for honoring Irena Sendler, a “She Who Dared” historical woman. Sendler was a Polish Catholic social worker and nurse who, even before the war, advocated for the Jewish community. Once the Warsaw Ghetto began in November 1940, she provided food, medicine, and other necessities to the Jews confined there. Ultimately, she helped save about twenty-five hundred children.
In 1942, Irena joined the Polish underground resistance organization, Żegota, dedicated to aiding Jews and became head of the children’s section. Irena gained access to the ghetto under the pretense of conducting health inspections, risking her life every time. She and her network smuggled children out in various ways, including hiding them in ambulances, toolboxes, and even coffins. Some went through underground passages or secret routes. Once the children were safely out of the ghetto, they received identity documents and were placed with Polish families, orphanages, and convents.
Sendler meticulously recorded the children’s real names and new identities on thin tissue paper, burying them in jars in her garden so the children could be identified later.
On October 21, 1943, Sendler suffered a close call. The Gestapo, suspicious of her activities, arrived and began searching the apartment. Irena hid in a secret compartment under the bathroom floor. The Gestapo scoured the apartment but did not find her. However, later that month, she was arrested by the Gestapo. She was severely beaten, with her legs and feet broken. At the last moment, Żegota bribed a German guard to release her.
Sendler was hidden and cared for by members of the Polish Underground and Żegota, who nursed her back to health in secret locations to avoid further Gestapo detection. Even though she was so severely injured, she continued her work.
Heroes do extraordinary things. What I did was not an extraordinary thing. It was normal.
Irena Sendler
If only extraordinary feats were commonplace, particularly in this time.
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