Irena Sendler: Who Had Courage to Resist

Dearest Stefan,
         I know it has been quite some time since I last wrote, but it has been nearly impossible to write without being discovered.  How are you and our children? Are they safe and healthy? Please don’t worry too much for me; I am safe with Irena Schultz and her family. So much has happened since the Gestapo took me from you on October 20, 1943. Some good came out of it, but not enough to satisfy me; there was much more that ‘I could have done [and] this regret will follow me to my death1.’
         When they captured me, I was immediately taken to Pawiak and brought before a German officer for interrogation. He began with simple questions, such as “Your name is Irenka Sendlerowa, is that correct?” and “You are a social worker, no?”, but then he asked about my friends who helped me rescue the children from a horrid death and where that children where hidden. Oh, you should have seen him, Stefan, with his treacherous and apathetic eyes piercing into my soul. He knew I was lying as I clamed ignorance and his wrath was like a wave of terror. By the time I got out of there, which, I was informed later, was three months, I had both my arms broken in one or two places as well as my legs; I could barely stand, never mind walk anywhere.
         Food and water were scarce and their torture was vast; even after months since I was rescued from death, my injuries are only beginning to heal, with a trustworthy doctor’s help. (I still can’t believe the Zegota members were actually able to bribe one of the guards to let me live.) It was very cold and damp there, since it was the end of autumn, but, somehow, I was able to keep my sanity and resist their torment. I suppose it was the knowledge of the 2,500 children that I escorted out of the ghetto that kept my mouth sealed, and the Zegota members as well.
         Other women and men, all of whom were imprisoned for a similar reason as I was, soon joined me in my enclosure. But, we did not stay there for long. For some reason, must likely the rumor of the Ally’s advances on Poland, we were loaded into a truck like cattle and were transported to a city in rubble to be executed. Just as they were lining everyone up, faces towards the only solidly standing wall in the whole city, one of the officers pulled me aside and told me, “Go, get out of here. You are dead to us.” When he saw that I wasn’t moving from my confusion of his words, he pulled me towards a pile of rubble and forced me to hide behind it. Just as I was fully hidden, I heard the guns fire and bodies thump to the ground; it was only then that I realized how close I was to dying.
         I walked, limped, painfully, from my hiding spot towards the nearest main road when I saw Jarek. He rushed across the street as fast as he could, seeing my distress and our desire to flee the city as swiftly as possible. After he assisted me into his automobile, he gave me my new identity and we drove towards the border. Luckily, the German guards let us through and I was on my way to safety.
         Jarek drove for hours before we made it to a small house in the middle of nowhere, which happened to be Mirek’s living place. And when Mirek carried me to the stables, I could not believe it was you there. It was one of the happiest moments of my life, especially during that war. I had no idea that you were there, but I’m glad you were; it made my stay there less nerve racking than if you weren’t.          
         It has been far too long since I’ve seen you and our children, especially Janina. Every so often, she comes and visits me here at the childrens' hospital, just to spend more time with me. I feel like I have failed all of you, as an escort, a daughter, a wife, and even as a mother. But I don’t know what I can do to make it up to her and Adam. After the interrogations with the Communists and the miscarriage of our third child, sometimes I feel that I didn’t do enough for these troubles to be balanced. Only 2,500 children were saved and there were so many more that could have been saved if we had worked harder, faster, and sooner.
         Some nights, as I go to sleep, I can still hear the mothers begging me to guarantee the survival of their child. The crying, waling of the mother and the tears of the child. I cannot even imagine the sacrifice I asked of them, having to give up their child, not knowing for certain it he or she would live or not. I don’t know if I would have the courage to do the same as those mothers if I were in the same position.
         However, I kept a record of all the names of the children, their Jewish names, new polish names and where they were, written on slips of tissue paper and stored in two glass jars, which I hid in Irena Schultz’s garden, at the roots of her apple tree. When I returned to Irena, I was delighted to find that the Germans had not looked under her apple tree for the names and every single name was in each of the jars, even the ones that Irena hid in her undergarments when the Germans took me away. I nearly danced for joy when she told me, now there was still a chance for the children to be reunited with their families. 
         It is getting late and I fear I cannot write any more for fear of my eyes falling out of my head. However, I know you worry that I’ll get interrogated or beaten badly again, the Lord knows I do, but remember what my father always said, ‘If you see a person drowning, you must jump into the water to save them, whether you can swim or not.’ If Janina or Adam ever ask why I’ve done what I did and what I continue to do, tell them that, for that is what my father bequeathed to me when I was young, the desire to help others. And if you can’t help, do everything that can possibly be done to achieve that help. Also, tell them, ‘Religion, race and nationality are immaterial. What counts is the distinction between good and bad3,’ and never let them forget that as long as they live. We don’t need another holocaust due to ignorance and miss directed blame. 
         My greatest love for all of you forever,
                             Irena 

                                     


                                                                            Works Sited

5TJT Staff. "Irena Sendler, Who Saved 2,500 Jews From Holocaust, Dies At 98." The 5TJT Newsletter (21 May 2008). The 5 Towns Jewish Times. Larry Gordon. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <https://www.5tjt.com/component/content/article/29-archive/2798-irena-sendler-who-saved-2500-jews-from-holocaust-dies-at-98.html>. This newsletter gave more quotes from Irena that I could use for my letter and also gave me a better idea of how selfless she really was.

Bernstein, Adam. "Irena Sendler, 98; Saved Children in WWII." The Washington Post 13 May 2008: 1-2. The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051202751.html>. This source was useful because it mentioned her mother's death before she was able to come out of hiding. This piece of information was not mentioned in any of the other sources that I found.

Bülow, Louis. "Irena Sendler; An Unsung Hero." The Holocaust: Crimes, Heroes, and Villains. www.auschwitz.dk. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://www.auschwitz.dk/Sendler.htm>. This site gave me a relatively good understanding about what was going on around Irena as she worked to salvage Jewish children out of the ghettos.

The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Dir. John K. Harrison. Perf. Irena - Anna Paquin, Stefan - Goran Visnjic, Janina Sendler - Marcia Gay Harden, Eva - Michelle Dockery, Hannah - Danuta Stenka, Karolina - Rebecca Windheim, Jasio - Sergei Marchenko, Monsignor Godlewski - Paul Freeman, Rabbi Rozenfeld - Leigh Lawson. The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Hallmark. Web. Mar. 2010. <http://www.cbs.com/specials/courageous_heart/>. This film really gave me a good idea of what happened to Irena and the kind of emotions she felt as she worked on her task. Also, by being able to understand some of her emotions, it has enabled me to write the letter from her point of view.

Dastych, David. "Irena Sendler: Compasion and Courage." Canada Free Press. 26 May 2008. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/3230>. Copyrighted 2010. From this site, I used multiple quotes and a lot of filler information or minor details like how long Irena stayed at Pawiak Prison.

Ficowska, Elzbieta. "Who Is Irena Sendler." The Polish Genealogy Project. Then and Now Photo Restoration, 18 Apr. 2008. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://polishgeno.com/?p=80>. I wasn't able to use a lot of this source, but it was still helpful. What I mostly used from this site were the entire name of her position as a social worker and her real last name.

Filreis, Al, comp. "Irena Sendler." The Economist. 22 May 2008. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/sendler.html>. This site made me realize that not only was Irena a daughter and a hero to some during this time in her life, but that she was also a mother.

Horan, Gavriel. "Irena's Children." Irena's Children. Richard's Creations. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://richards-creations.net/Pages/8/_Irena-s_Children.html>. From this site, I was able to gather more quotes to use in my letter and also it gave me what exactly she did before she joined the Zegota. Plus, the picture on the cover also comes from this site.
"Irena Sendler." Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/irenasendler.html>. This site provided more details of her life when the Nazis were first humiliating the Jews.
         Quotes: 1,

"Irena Sendler Social Worker Who Saved 2,500 Jewish Children in Warsaw and Was Tortured by the Gestapo." Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited, 12 May 2008. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1950450/Irena-Sendler.html>. In this site, I was able to find what the feelings of the Jewish families who gave up their children in hopes of their survival.

"Irena Sendler: Social Worker Who Saved the Lives of Many Hundreds of Jewish Children by Smuggling Them out of the Warsaw Ghetto." The Times Online 12 May 2008: 1-2. The Times Online. News International Group. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3918822.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2>. From this site, I found out what happened after she was rescued from death by gunfire and found some more quotes that I could use for my letter.

Lukas, Richard C. "Irena Sendler: World War II's Polish Angel." American Catholic. St. Anthony Messenger Press and Franciscans, 1996-2010. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Aug2008/Feature1.asp>. This site gave me another piece of the puzzle of Irena's story, such as details about certain events that other sites did not mention or neglected entirely. Quote 2.

Mia Kornet. 18 March 2010. Mia was able it provide me with a list of common Polish names that I could use when I could not find the name of a person.

Woo, Elaine. "Irena Sendler, 98; Member of Resistance Saved Lives of 2,500 Polish Jews." The Los Angeles Times 12 May 2008. The Los Angeles Times. Google. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/sendler.htm>. From this article, I was able to learn more about her childhood and education, as well as the history of the association "Zegota”. Quote 3.