If this young Polish Social Worker is captured by the SS, the lives of thousands of children will hang in the balance. Listen to how Irena Sendler saved lives among the dying of the Warsaw Ghetto in WW2 and how we can learn from her example today.
Part One -
Irena Sender was born on February 15th, 1910 in Warsaw Poland. She was raised in the Catholic faith and was named after St. Irene of Rome. Her naming day was October 20th. Her mother, Janina would be in her life for many years. Yet, her father, Stanslaw was not. He was a medical Dr. and humanitarian. He made an effort to treat Jewish people and sometimes treat them without charge. This led him to work within the Jewish community in Otwock, a town 15 miles southeast of Warsaw. Stanslaw felt that he had a moral duty to serve those who were poor and outcast. But in the Typhus outbreak in 1917, the 43 year old Dr. contracted the disease from the very people he treated. Stanslaw died from Typhus when Irena was only seven years old. But the mark he left on his young daughter would turn out to be legendary.
But now as a 33 year old in the very midst of the Warsaw Ghetto, Irena didn’t know that. Nor did she fully understand what the cost of saving Jewish children from the Ghetto might be. As she stood in the candlelit house impatiently waiting for the parents to say goodbye to their newborn daughter, all Irena could think about was her father and all that he taught her by word and action. In the circumstances she had now placed herself in, Irena wondered if she would soon join him.
Time would tell.
Music composition: My friend and master musician, Joel K.K.
Primary Source of Info: Jack Mayer