Irena Sendler, Samaritan
of the Warsaw Ghetto
by Michael D. Hull
O
ne of the most remarkable figures of
World War II was a young Roman
Catholic social worker whose courageous
achievements might have slipped through
the cracks of history but for the efforts of
three Kansas high school students.
The three girls researched the inspiring story of Irena
Sendler, who saved the lives of 2,500 Jewish children in
the Warsaw Ghetto, survived Nazi torture chambers, and
lived to the age of ninety-eight. They wrote a play about
their heroine which has been staged on two continents.
Honored by Israel as a “Righteous Gentile” in 1965,
Irena (Sendlerowa) Sendler had been raised by Catholic
parents to respect and love all people, regardless of their
ethnicity, social status, or Faith. One of the bravest and
most humble of World War II humanitarians, Irena Sendler
eschewed later recognition. In fact, she believed that she
had not accomplished enough.
“We who were rescuing children are not some kind of
heroes,” she said in 2005. “That term irritates me greatly.
The opposite is true. I continue to have qualms of con-
science that I did so little. I could have done more. This
regret will follow me to my death.”
Irena (Krzyzanowska) Sendler was born on Tuesday,
February 15, 1910, in Otwock, a small commune and
summer resort 15 miles southeast of Warsaw, the Polish
capital. She was the only child of parents who devoted
14
US Troops in combat, National Archives photo
much of their energies to helping local workers. An
early lesson Irena said she learned was that “if you see a
person drowning, you must jump into the water to save
him, whether you can swim or not.” She was especially
influenced by her father, the only doctor in the town who
treated poor Jews afflicted by Typhus. He died during an
epidemic in 1917.
A short, bright-eyed girl with bobbed hair and a ready
smile, Irena studied at Warsaw University and became a
social worker. She lived in Otwock and Tarczyn before
moving to the capital, where she became a senior ad-
ministrator in the Warsaw Municipality’s Social Welfare
Department.
When Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1,
1939, with panzer columns smashing through the villages
and bombers devastating the cities, Irena realized that the
Jews were at risk, so she started helping them. They were
drowning, she reasoned, so she resolved to rescue as many
as possible, particularly the children. With a few helpers,
Irena began making false documents to help Jewish fami-
lies evade seizure by the Germans.
Daily life became dangerous from then on, for the Nazi
invaders were targeting both Jews and their protectors in
every occupied country. In Poland, it was even more risky
for people like Irena than elsewhere. If a Jew was found
hidden in a home in Poland, all household members faced
execution.
Spring 2009
 Irena Sendler, Samaritan of the Warsaw Ghetto

But nothing would deter the selfless Irena. Utilizing her might spread outside the hellish district. But the disease
connections in the Warsaw Municipality, she placed Jewish was already scourging the ghetto, and Irena’s real mission
families on the welfare rolls, using fictitious Christian was to rescue children. She recruited ten trusted helpers,
identities; persuaded apartment superintendents to register and the group eventually grew to twenty-five. All but one
them as tenants, and instructed fellow social workers to were women.
report falsely that specific Jews were afflicted with conta- Wearing a Star of David armband as a sign of solidar-
gious diseases so that they would not be inspected. In time, ity with the Jews and so as not to call attention to herself,
more than 3,000 Jews were receiving assistance through Irena entered the ghetto sometimes two and three times a
Irena’s connections. day. She faced the heartbreaking task of trying to talk the
The young woman lived with peril daily. In addition to Jewish parents into giving up their children. Distraught
the forged papers for Jewish children, she even diverted mothers, certain to end up in Treblinka or any one of a host
German occupation funds to the support of boys and girls of other Nazi death camps, clung tearfully to their chil-
in hiding. dren, and Irena was not always successful
In November 1940, German troops in parting them.
began work on the creation of a ghetto in
Daily life became “We witnessed terrible scenes,” she
Warsaw to enclose the Jewish population. dangerous from then reported later. “Father agreed, but mother
A wall was built separating it from the
rest of the city, and the Germans described
on… In Poland, it was didn’t. We sometimes had to leave those
unfortunate families without taking their
the move as a “health measure.” Jewish even more risky for children from them. I’d go back there the
families were herded into the ghetto, and
conditions there soon became dread-
people like Irena than next day, and often found that everyone
had been taken to the Umschlagsplatz
ful. Diseases, particularly Typhoid, ran elsewhere. If a Jew railway siding for transport to the death
rampant. camps.”
Irena learned of “the horror of life was found hidden in Irena recalled later, “The one question
behind the walls.” Social workers were a home in Poland, all every parent asked me was, ‘Can you
not allowed to enter the ghetto, but the guarantee they (the children) will live?’
determined Irena obtained fake identifica- household members We had to admit honestly that we could
tion, posed as an infection control nurse, faced execution. not, as we did not even know if we would
and was permitted by the Germans to take succeed in leaving the ghetto that day.
in food, clothing, medicine, and money. The only guarantee was that the children
After the sealing of the ghetto, Irena, using the cover would most likely die if they stayed.”
name, Jolanta, obtained special passes from doctors in the She sedated the babies to keep them quiet, and orga-
Warsaw Epidemic Control Department that enabled her nized the smuggling of them and older children out of
and a co-conspirator to enter the area at will. They were the ghetto, past German guards. Irena made use of an old
able to smuggle desperately needed items into the ghetto courthouse on the edge of the district as one of the main
with the help of plumbers, electricians, and other Polish escape routes. Some children were led out through church-
artisans who were still allowed to drive their trucks into es and a maze of cellars and old secret passageways. The
the district. boys and girls were hidden in sacks, boxes, suitcases, and
Inevitably, the situation in the ghetto worsened as coffins, and even disguised as packages. One infant was
starvation became rampant and deportations to Nazi con- spirited away in a mechanic’s toolbox, and another was
centration camps intensified. Irena and her helpers began smuggled out by Irena in a carpenter’s workbox.
to remove children from the ghetto before they could be Ambulances and trams were utilized to transport the
herded off to camps, or exterminated. In December 1942, children. One ambulance driver smuggled infants hidden
Irena was contacted by the Zegota underground network, beneath stretchers in the back of his vehicle. Beside him
which incorporated her organization. After starting in War- in the front seat he kept his dog, trained to bark and drown
saw with three safe houses where Jews could be hidden, out any cries from his little passengers that might alert any
Zegota had opened branches in Cracow, Brest-Litovsk, nearby German soldiers.
and Siedlce, and extended its efforts to Kielce, Bialystok, The escape operations were timed to the second in order
Radom, Bochnia, Lublin, and Lvov. to avoid German patrols, and the Warsaw sewer system
Irena was named to head Zegota’s children’s depart- was used. One older Jewish boy waited patiently at a gate
ment, with a special permit enabling her to enter the ghetto one night while a German soldier paced nearby. When
to check for signs of Typhoid. The Germans feared that it the man finally moved away, the boy counted to thirty

Spring 2009 15
 Irena Sendler, Samaritan of the Warsaw Ghetto

and dashed to the middle of the street. A manhole cover underwear. When Gestapo officers discovered what the
was lifted, and the lad was led down into the foul, reeking women had done, they lined them up and shot every other
sewer tunnels and eventually to safety. one. Irena escaped receiving a bullet.
The rescued children were taken to sympathetic But she underwent more tortures as her captors sought
families; Roman Catholic convents such to learn more about Polish underground
as the Sisters of the Little Servants of the activities. After one brutal session, Irena
Immaculate Conception in Turkowice and passed out. When she awakened, a Gestapo
Chotomow; orphanages such as the Sisters officer told her that Zegota had bribed a
of the Family of Mary in Warsaw; hospi- guard to secure her freedom. The officer
tals, and parish rectories, where Priests hid added Irena’s name to a roster of executed
them. Children who were old enough to prisoners, and the heroic young woman
talk were taught Christian prayers and how was released. Irena returned to her work
to make the sign of the Cross, so that their with a new identity and went into hiding.
Jewish heritage would not be suspected. But she continued her rescue efforts. She
Each child was provided with birth and retrieved her lists of names and buried
baptismal certificates, and a new identity. them in jars beneath an apple tree in a
Irena Sendler
Irena and her helpers ensured the safety friend’s garden.
of more than two and a half thousand When the European war ended
children. Irena recalled later, “The one in May 1945, Irena continued in her
Like the better-known Oskar
question every parent asked me profession as a social worker and
Schindler, the German industrialist also became a director of vocational
who sheltered 1,200 of his Jewish was, ‘Can you guarantee they schools. The heroine unearthed the
workers, Irena Sendler meticulously (the children) will live?’ We jars containing her precious lists and
recorded on tissue paper coded list- started trying to return the Jewish
ings of the 2,500 children she had
had to admit honestly that we children to their families. But, for the
rescued. Each child’s Jewish name, could not, as we did not even majority, there were no relatives left.
Christian name, and address were know if we would succeed in They had perished in the infamous
recorded. Irena’s hope was that after Treblinka or other Nazi slave camps
the war the children could be claimed leaving the ghetto that day. The and gas chambers. Many of the chil-
by their families or other surviving only guarantee was that the dren were adopted by caring Polish
relatives.
But Irena’s incredible feats of
children would most likely die families, and others were transported
to Palestine.
charity came to an abrupt end on if they stayed.” After her first marriage to Miec-
the night of Wednesday, October 20, zyslaw Sendler was anulled, Irena
1943, when her house was raided by Gestapo agents and married Stefan Zgrzembski, with whom she bore two sons
German soldiers. Upon hearing a loud pounding on her and a daughter. One of the boys died in infancy, and the
door, her immediate thought was to get rid of the precious second in 1999. Only the daughter would survive Irena.
lists of names. She considered throwing them out of a The Allied victory over Germany brought no respite for
window, but the house was surrounded by Germans. So, Poland, where the Nazi masters were replaced by a new
Irena threw the papers to a colleague, who hid them in her breed of despots as the red stain of Marshal Josef Stalin’s
undergarments, and went to open the door. “There were Soviet Bloc spread across Eastern Europe. The harsh,
eleven soldiers,” she reported later. “In two hours, they intractable Communist regime in Warsaw suppressed any
almost tore the whole house apart.” public recognition of the heroic anti-fascist partisans, most
Irena was hauled off to the vast, dreaded Pawiak Prison of whom were also foes of communism.
in Warsaw’s Jewish quarter, where she was interrogated The exploits of Irena Sendler and others – especially
and cruelly tortured. Her legs and feet were broken, and Christians – who had risked their lives for the persecuted
her body permanently scarred, yet she refused to betray her were officially forgotten. Many of the wartime rescuers
network of partisans or the children whom she had saved. were ostracized by the Polish Communists. Meanwhile,
She was sentenced to death by firing squad. anti-Semitism was strong in Poland. Irena, who would
In the meantime, the Catholic heroine was put to work have been a national heroine in another country, was virtu-
in the prison laundry. As an act of passive resistance, Irena ally unknown in both her homeland and the outside world.
and her fellow captives made holes in the German soldiers’ It was not until 1965 that Irena gained recognition,

16 Spring 2009
 Irena Sendler, Samaritan of the Warsaw Ghetto

when she was named one of the first “righteous Gentiles” 2003, Pope John Paul II, a fellow countryman, sent the
of World War II to be honored by Yad Vashem, the Holo- heroine a letter commending her wartime feats; and on
caust Martyrs’ and Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem. October 10th that year, she was awarded Poland’s highest
Despite some Israeli hesitance to acknowledge Roman honor, the Order of the White Eagle. She also received
Catholics who had saved Jews during the war, Irena was the Jan Karski Award for Courage and Heart, given by
awarded the Yad Vashem Medal, and a tree was planted in the American Center of Polish Culture in Washington,
her name in Jerusalem’s Garden of the Righteous. D.C.
The Polish regime denied Irena permission to journey The recognition continued as Irena’s achievements
to Israel, and she was unable to collect her medal until became more widely known. In 2005, she was the subject
1983. Her award was confirmed that year by the Israeli of a biography, Mother of the Children of the Holocaust:
Supreme Court, and she also received the Commander’s The Irena Sendler Story, written by Ana Mieszkowska,
Cross from the Israeli Institute. and the following year, March 10
Still, most people knew nothing Ambulances and trams were was proclaimed Irena Sendler Day in
of the smiling young woman who Kansas. But Irena remained modest
had quietly defied Nazi tyranny and utilized to transport the and humble. In a letter to the Polish
risked her life many times – until children. One ambulance Parliament, she wrote, “Every child
1999, when the three teenage girls in saved with my help is the justification
driver smuggled infants
Kansas uncovered her story. of my existence on this earth, and not
Liz Cambers, Megan Stewart, hidden beneath stretchers in a title to glory.”
and Sabrina Coons, students at rural the back of his vehicle. Beside On March 14, 2007, Irena was
Uniontown (Kansas) High School, saluted by the Polish Senate and
were looking for a National History
him in the front seat he kept nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Day project. Their teacher, Norm Con- his dog, trained to bark and Nominations are usually kept secret,
ard of Pittsburg, Kansas, handed them drown out any cries from his but dozens of reporters went to the
a short paragraph about Irena Sendler heroine’s door. She told one of them
clipped from a 1994 U.S. News & little passengers that might that she was wearying of the atten-
World Report magazine story entitled alert any nearby German tion. The prize, however, eventually
The Other Schindlers. The item told went to former U.S. Vice President
how Irena had smuggled 2,500 Jewish
soldiers. Al Gore.
children out of the Warsaw Ghetto just After each performance of Life
before its liquidation in 1943. in a Jar, Megan Stewart-Felt and the other cast members
The three teenagers, joined later by a fourth, Jessica passed around a collection jar on behalf of Irena, rais-
Shelton, were inspired and decided to research the hero- ing enough money to move her into a Catholic nursing
ine’s life story. It was not easy; an Internet search turned home in Warsaw with round-the-clock care. The bright,
up only one web site mentioning her. But, with Conard’s spirited World War II samaritan was now wizened, jowled,
help and encouragement, the girls began to trace Irena’s and infirm – but still smiling. At the nursing home, Irena
achievements. They assumed she was dead and tried to was tended by Elzbieta Ficowska, who, at the age of six
learn the location of her burial site. To their surprise and months in July 1942, had been smuggled out of the War-
delight, the three students discovered that their subject was saw Ghetto by Irena in a carpenter’s workbox. Meanwhile,
still alive, was 90 years old, and was living with relatives the young Kansas women and their teacher, Norm Conard,
in a small Warsaw apartment. founded the Life in a Jar Foundation, which raised more
Based on their findings, the Kansas students wrote a than $70,000 to help other needy Holocaust rescuers.
play about Irena’s rescue efforts, Life in a Jar, in 2000. Irena Sendler died at the age of ninety-eight in Warsaw
After its debut in Kansas, the play was performed more on May 12, 2008. Floral tributes surrounded the coffin
than 250 times in this country, Canada, and Europe. Spon- at her funeral three days later. Irena was survived by her
sored by a local Jewish fraternal organization, the Kansas daughter and a granddaughter. ✠
students visited Irena in Warsaw for the first time in 2001.
She helped them to improve and expand the play. The girls Michael Hull is a journalist and military
reported that the lesson they learned from Irena Sendler historian who lives in Enfield, Connecticut.
was that “one person can make a difference.” They paid
several later visits to her.
The play brought Irena long overdue recognition. In

Spring 2009 17