Irena Sendler (1910-2008) smuggled more than 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during Nazi rule.
Irena Sendler (1910-2008) smuggled more than 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during Nazi rule.
This month, we’re highlighting Women of Resistance. Whether fighting tyranny, oppression, sexism, racism, reproductive control, or any number of other ills, these women created paths for change.
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Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
This month on Womanica, we’re highlighting women who led extraordinary lives of resistance. Whether fighting tyranny, oppression, sexism, racism, or reproductive control, these women created paths for change.
Today we’re talking about a woman who smuggled more than 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during Nazi rule.
Please welcome Irena Sendler.
Irena was born on February 15, 1910 in Otwock, Poland, a town just south of Warsaw. Irena was raised Roman Catholic, and her parents taught her the importance of helping people. Her father was a medical doctor, who treated Jewish patients free of charge, while others refused. Through his work, he contracted typhus and died when Irena was seven.
When Irena was a student at the University of Warsaw, there was a practice known as the “ghetto bench system.” In classrooms and lecture halls, some students – often Jewish students – were segregated and isolated from the rest of the students. Irena openly protested this practice, which got her suspended from school.
Irena went on to work as a Senior Administrator in the Warsaw Social Welfare Department. She oversaw the city’s “canteens,” and provided care to orphans, the elderly, and others in need. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the canteens expanded their care to provide medicine, clothing, meals, and other necessities to the persecuted Jewish population.
Irena and her colleagues would register visitors under fake Christian names to protect them from the Gestapo. They also reported that they had highly infectious diseases, to avoid visits from inspectors who might have turned them in.
In 1940, the Nazis forcibly relocated all Jewish families in Warsaw to a 16-block area in the city. Walls surrounded what came to be known as the Warsaw Ghetto. They locked in about 400,000 Jews, with no way out.
Irena joined Żegota. It was the codename for an underground organization known as the Polish Council to Aid Jews. She obtained a permit that allowed her access to the ghetto, where she brought food, medicine, and clothes. But she soon realized that wouldn’t be enough to save the thousands who were dying from disease or starvation.
Irena came up with a plan to smuggle the children out. She knocked on doors in the ghetto, under the guise of a social worker, checking on infectious disease. But really, she was trying to convince parents to let her take their children. She couldn’t promise they would make it out alive, but she knew they would be dead soon if they stayed.
Along with the help of ten other social workers, Irena smuggled children in ambulances, burlap sacks, body bags, coffins, and hidden amongst piles of deliveries. One baby was smuggled out in a mechanic’s toolbox. A Catholic church sat at one end of the ghetto. Some children walked in on the ghetto side, then walked out on the free side with new Christian identities.
Irena and her colleagues forged signatures and crafted false documents to give these children new lives. She placed them in homes, orphanages, and convents. Irena kept a detailed record of names and dates in jars, which she buried beneath a tree. She hoped she could one day find the children she had rescued and reunite them with their families.
On October 20, 1943, Irena was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured by the Gestapo. They broke her feet and legs, trying to get her to reveal the names of her Żegota accomplices. She refused and was sentenced to death. But her fellow activists bribed the guards, and secured her release. She continued her rescue work underground.
By the time the war ended in 1945, Żegota had rescued more than 2,500 children. It’s estimated that Irena personally rescued 400.
After the war, Irena was blacklisted by the communist government in Poland. And many Polish resistance fighters kept their work secret long after the war ended, or else they’d be met with anti-semitism.
In 1965, Israel’s Holocaust memorial organization, Yad Vashem, awarded her the title “Righteous Among the Nations.” It’s an honor given to people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
Irena’s story went largely unknown outside of Europe until 1999. Four Kansas high school students learned about Irena’s story while researching for a history project. They were so inspired by it that they wrote a play, titled “Life in a Jar.” The play toured both in the U.S. and in Europe. It gained international acclaim and brought Irena’s heroism to light. The students even traveled to Poland a few times to visit Irena.
On November 10, 2003, Irena was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest distinction. Near the end of her life, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. But Irena didn’t think of herself as a hero. She said, “I could have done more. This regret will follow me to my death.”
Irena passed away on May 12, 2008, at 98 years old.
All month, we’re highlighting women of resistance. For more information, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!