Last week I started a new series of interesting links that have I have found via pinterest. You can see last weeks here.
This week this lady and her story caught my eye.
at first glance I thought - oh I wonder who that is - and then I saw her again with some of her story - That led to me to google.
Irena Sendler 1910-2008
A 98 year-old German woman named Irena Sendler recently died. During WWII, Irena worked in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist. Irena smuggled Jewish children out; infants in the bottom of the tool box she carried and older children in a burlap sack she carried 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 wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids’ and infants’ noises. Irena managed to smuggle out and save 2500 children. She eventually was caught, and the Nazis broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar buried under a tree in her backyard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and reunited some of the families. Most had been killed. She helped those children get placement into foster family homes or adopted. Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected.
There are a few books about on her story which I'm very keen to get hold of - I'm going to ask our school librarian to see what he can source. Firstly there is this - Life in a Jar
Incredibly, after the war Irena Sendler's heroism, like that of many others, was suppressed by communist Poland and remained virtually unknown for 60 years.
Unknown, that is, until three high school girls from an economically depressed, rural school district in southeast Kansas stumbled upon a tantalizing reference to Sendler’s rescues, which they fashioned into a history project, a play they called Life in a Jar.
Their innocent drama was first seen in Kansas, then the Midwest, then New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, and finally Poland, where they elevated Irena Sendler to a national hero, championing her legacy of tolerance and respect for all people.
Sixty percent (60%) of the sales of Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project are donated to the Irena Sendler/Life in a Jar Foundation.The foundation promotes Irena Sendler’s legacy and encourages educators and students to emulate the project by focusing on unsung heroes in history to teach respect and understanding among all people, regardless of race, religion, or creed.
Then on Amazon there is also this
Irena Sendler was a diminutive Polish social worker who helped spirit more than four hundred children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Using toolboxes, ambulances, and other ingenious measures, Irena Sendler defied the Nazis and risked her own life by saving and then hiding Jewish children. Her secret list of the children s real identities was kept safe, buried in two jars under a tree in war-torn Warsaw. An inspiring story of courage and compassion, this biography includes a list of resources, source notes, and an index.
This is in hardcover and only came out April 1st this year but seems to me to be more the story of Irena Sendler.
And finally there is a telemovie too.
The courageous heart of Irena Sendler with Irena played by Anna Paquin ( yes of true blood ;) )
I have no idea how to see this - so any suggestions would be much appreciated. You can read more about Irena Sendler over here .
Tamar x
