The Courage of Irena Sendler

A Light in the Darkness of the Holocaust: The Courage of Irena Sendler
Ananya Krishna
Junior Division
Historical Paper
2493 Words
"In those times there was darkness everywhere. In heaven and on earth, all the gates of
compassion seemed to have been closed. The killer killed and the Jews died and the outside
world adopted an attitude either of complicity or of indifference. Only a few had the courage to
care ..."
- Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust Survivor 1
Irena Sendler, a young Polish Catholic social worker, risked her life to save hundreds of Jewish
children during World War II. Jews were forced by the Nazis into crowded ghettos where they
encountered untold tribulations and death. 2 Through exchanging bribes for information and
exploring ingenious methods of smuggling the Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto, Irena
Sendler put her own safety behind the safety and lives of the Jewish children and was the savior
of over 2,500 Jewish children 3 and many adults, who would have otherwise perished. She
encountered arrest, torture and extreme suffering both during the war and afterwards, but showed
the world that one person can make all the difference.
“If you see someone drowning, you must jump in and try to save him, even if you cannot swim.”
These were the last words of Stanislaw Krzyzanowski, Sendler’s father and a renowned
physician, who died after contracting typhus while treating poor, ill Jews. 4 Sendler was greatly
influenced by her father, and she lived by his principles of selflessness and sacrifice. 5 Her
sacrifices, however, were not known to the world until a decade and a half ago.
1
Bülow, Louis. “Irena Sendler: An Unsung Heroine.” Web. Quote of Elie Wiesel, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor.
Felt, Megan Stuart, Elizabeth Cambers Hutton, and Sabrina Coons Murphy. "Facts about Irena." Ed. Norman Conard. Life in a Jar: The Irena
Sendler Project. www.irenasendler.org, Web.
3
Mieszkowska, Anna. Irena Sendler: Mother of the Holocaust Children. Trans. Witold Zbiirohowski-Koscia. 2011. 75-80.
4
Mayer, Jack. Life in a Jar, the Irena Sendler Project: 2011, 105.
5
Kroll, Chana. "Irena Sendler: Rescuer of the Children of Warsaw." The Jewish woman.org. Web.
2
1
In the 1930s, over nine million Jews lived in Europe, with over 3 million in Warsaw, Poland.
Anti-Semitic feelings existed in Poland even before the war. 6 The prejudice against the Jews
escalated in 1935 as they were unfairly blamed for the country’s economic crisis. 7 Even as a
student, Sendler protested against the ill treatment of Jewish students and separate seating for
Jews on “ghetto benches”. Consequently, she was suspended from the University. 8 She still
managed to graduate and became a social worker in the Warsaw Welfare Department. 9 Nazism
along with its anti-Jewish policies was rising in Germany during early 1930s. 10 In September
1939, Nazis invaded Poland, and the Jews encountered severe discrimination. They were
dismissed from work at public institutions. Their real estate, assets and most of their possessions
were confiscated.11 Bank accounts were blocked and freedom of movement was denied. 12 Jews
were ordered to wear arm bands marked with the Star of David, and forbidden to use public
facilities.13 All Jews from the ages of twelve to sixty were subject to forced labor. 14 No welfare
was sanctioned to a Jew. Sendler exchanged ideas with like-minded colleagues and convinced
her superior, Jan Dobraczynski, to issue forged documents creating fictitious Christian identities,
which she used to siphon food and money to over 3,000 Jews. 15
In September 1940, Nazis herded all the Jews in Warsaw into a confined space called the ghetto
with an eleven-foot wall all around.16 There was an exchange of 113,000 Poles out and 138,000
6
7
Weeks, Theodore R. From Assimilation to Anti-Semitism: The "Jewish Question" in Poland, 1850-1914. 2006 161.
Stevens, Michael E., ed. Voices of the Wisconsin Past: Remembering the Holocaust. 1997 72.
Rubin, Susan Goldman. Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto. 2011 4.
9
Kroll. The Jewish woman.org. Web.
10
Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority. Rise of the Nazis and Beginning of Persecution, 2016. Web.
11
Grynberg, Michal, ed. Words to Outlive Us: Voices from the Warsaw Ghetto. 1988 22.
12
Tomaszewski, Irene, and Tecia Werbowski. Zegota: The Council for Aid to Jews in Occupied Poland 1942-45. 1999 23.
13
Ringelblum, Emmanuel. Polish-Jewish Relations during the Second World War. 1976 50.
14
Gutman, Yisrael. The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943: Ghetto, Underground, Revolt. 1982 13.
15
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw, and Zofia Lewin, Righteous among Nations: How Poles Helped the Jews 1939-1945, 1969 61.
16
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw. The Warsaw Ghetto: A Christian's Testimony. Trans. Stephen G. Capellari. 1987 7.
8
2
Jews into this ghetto.17 With time, the number of Jews grew in the Warsaw ghetto, as they were
mobilized from the rest of Poland and neighboring countries. 18 At one point, there were more
than 400,000 Jews confined in a space the size of sixteen city blocks (see Appendix I). 19 In
November 1940, the ghetto was sealed.20 Jews were prohibited from leaving other than for
forced labor, and no Pole could enter without a special pass. 21 Any help given by a Pole to a Jew
was punishable by death.22 Over 90% of Sendler’s secret clients were confined behind the ghetto
walls, and her well-laid-out plans for their assistance came to a grinding halt. 23
Irena Sendler approached Dr. Majkowski, the director of the Sanitation Center, seeking a work
pass as a health inspector, in order enter the ghetto legally. 24 Once there, Sendler encountered
hellish scenes on the streets with emaciated orphaned Jewish children (see Appendix II) begging
for a piece of bread, and dying by the dozen. 25 The streets were strewn with corpses of people
dead from starvation, cold, shootings, beatings and disease. 26 Appalled, Sendler explored ways to
set up a network of couriers with legal passes to enter the ghetto, bringing money, clothes, food,
medicines and disinfectants.27 These couriers made several trips some days, taking care not to
enter or exit through the same gate.
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
Gutman 60.
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw. The Warsaw Ghetto: A Christian's Testimony 9.
Kile, J. "Moral Heroes: Irena Sendler." Moral Heroes., 14 Dec. 2015. Web.
Szpilman, Wladyslaw. The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1935. 1999 59.
Ringelblum 93.
Mayer 135.
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw. The Samaritans. Ed. Zofia Lewin and Alexander T. Jordan. 1970 72.
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw, and Zofia Lewin. Righteous among Nations: How Poles Helped the Jews 1939-1945 42.
Rubin 6.
The Jewish foundation for the Righteous. "Rescuer Stories: Irena Sendler, Poland." Web.
Mayer 125.
3
The reason for the ghetto became clear: brutal seclusion, exploitation, and starvation leading to
the annihilation of Jews.28 The daily ration for a Jew was reduced to 185 calories (see Appendix
III) and people were selling all their meager possessions to buy food at a black market run by
smugglers29 With increasing influx of mobilized Jews and overcrowding, epidemics ran rampant,
claiming more lives.30 Daily beatings and public shootings continued in a senseless and cruel
manner.31 The trials and tribulations encountered by the Jews were immense. It was a
concentration camp within the ghetto walls.
The situation of the orphaned children became more desperate with each passing day. Sendler
would encounter them begging on her way in and dead on her way out. 32 Children caught outside
the ghetto walls were killed on sight or sent to prison, to be starved to death. 33 Unable to bear
encounters with these heart-breaking scenes, Sendler decided to explore means of rescuing the
children from the ghetto. She trained her associates to smuggle children out in rucksacks, boxes
and under the garbage. Secret passageways, like the underground corridors of the court house
and buildings straddling the ghetto wall with doors on either side, were used to bring the children
out.34 Sometimes, bribes were exchanged with sentries, to make them look the other way.
Each day she entered the ghetto, Sendler would leave with children in the back of her ambulance,
in her toolbox, hidden under blankets, and even in caskets. 35 Smaller children were sedated, but
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Ringelblum 60.
Grynberg. 117.
Tomaszewski 30.
Grynberg 50-51.
Mieszkowska. 74.
Ringelblum, Emmanuel. 80-83.
Mieszkowska 75,76.
Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers. PBS, 2012. Documentary Film, Sendler’s interview.
4
some frightened children would cry. If a guard found the child, death was certain for all. The
ambulance driver had a dog that would bark loudly on cue and drown the cries of a child. 36 With
time, getting the children out of the ghetto became increasingly difficult. The court house and
buildings were blocked.37 Sendler explored and found ways through the sewer canal system.
Small children were squeezed through openings in the wall. Older children were taken out with
the people leaving for forced labor. 38
In the summer of 1942, the Germans took action on the plan to destroy the Warsaw ghetto and
exterminate all Jews. The Jews were to be deported, under the pretext of resettlement to death
camps like Treblinka.39 Germans explored systems of mass extermination and chambers were set
up where a pesticide gas, Zyklon B, was used to kill hundreds of people quickly. 40 This plan for
liquidation was kept a secret until the last day from all, including the chairman of the Jewish
Council, Adam Czerniakow. He preferred to take his own life rather than sign the order for
execution of Jewish children.41 Nevertheless, the liquidation continued. The Jews were brutally
herded to a transfer point, Umschlagplatz.42 Hundreds of people were packed into railroad cars
and taken to Treblinka, where they lived for only two hours. 43 Nearly 6,000 Jews were executed
daily from July 22 to September 12, 1942. 44 Sendler encountered the sight of Dr. Korczak, a
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
Mayer 151.
Tomaszewski, Irene, and Tecia Werbowski. 60.
Ringelblum 97-98.
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw. The Warsaw Ghetto: A Christian's Testimony 12.
Yad Vashem: Shoah Resource Center for holocaust studies, 2016. Web.
Hilberg, Raul, Stanislaw Staron, and Josef Kermisz, eds. The Warsaw Diary of Adam Czerniakow. 63-4, 70.
Grynberg 108.
Gutman 221.
Bruce, George. The Warsaw Uprising. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1972 40.
5
famous pediatrician, leading his orphanage children with great dignity and travelling with them
to their death. She had a breakdown after witnessing the event. 45
The rumors of extermination galvanized Sendler to expand the rescue mission to children living
with their Jewish families.46 Her network widened and she was in dire need of more resources. A
contact exchanged information about “Zegota,” the secret underground organization and council
for aid to Jews.47 Zegota gave Sendler sizable funds and in exchange, Sendler gave them a
talented network of agents, tried and tested in rescue activities. 48 With daring and ingenuity, she
found informants among Jewish policemen, who disclosed specific houses that would be
liquidated next. Sendler approached those families, offering to rescue their children. 49 She
encountered shock, disbelief, grief and resistance from many initially, but as liquidation
progressed, families were more willing to part with their children to save their lives. 50
The separation came at a dreadful emotional cost to the parents and children. Sendler
encountered heartrending situations, the pain and anguish of parents, the children’s frightening
sense of abandonment, the lingering holding of little hands, tears, and yet hope that the children
would survive.51 The one question every parent asked was, “Can you guarantee they will live?”
Sendler had to admit honestly that she could not, as she did not even know if she herself would
leave the ghetto alive that day. “The only guarantee,” Sendler said, “was that the children would
most likely die if they stayed.”52 The terrified children were taken into houses where they were
45
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw, and Zofia Lewin, Righteous among Nations: How Poles Helped the Jews 1939-1945 46.
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw, and Zofia Lewin. 43.
47
Tomaszewsk. 60.
48
Bartoszewski, The Samaritans 74.
49
Mieszkowska 73.
50
Atwood, Kathryn J. "Irena Sendler: Life in a Jar." Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage Resistance, and Rescue.
2011. 43-48
51
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Dir. John Kent Harrison. Hallmark Hall of Fame: LXVII, 2009. Film.
52
Chesnoff, Richard. "The Other Schindlers--Steven Spielberg's Epic Film Focuses on Only One." U.S. News & World Report 1994.
46
6
calmed with love and affection to ease the pain of being separated from loved ones. 53 They were
washed, given new clothes, fed and taught new Christian names, Catholic prayers, and customs.
They were never to speak in Yiddish or mention Jewish customs, and to hide if Germans came. 54
Some were placed with foster families that risked their lives, as hiding a Jew was a capital
crime.55 Many were placed in convents with nuns, and not a single one turned down a child.
Some children adapted better than others. The older and the very young did better than small
children. Boys were more difficult to hide than girls, as circumcised Jewish boys were easy to
identify upon inspection.56 Those having “Aryan” looks (blondes with blue eyes) blended in
more easily. Over and above the German surveillance, the menace of blackmailers and
informers meant that Jews had to change hideouts frequently. 57 Such forced change of homes
caused more tragedy for the children. One of the boys asked Sendler, between sobs, “Please,
Miss, how many mommies can you have? I am going to my thirty-second now.” 58 She saved the
old and new identities of the children on strips of paper that she placed in milk jars and buried
them under her friend Jadwiga Piotrowska’s apple tree, with the hope of eventually reuniting the
children with their family.59
Sendler explored constantly for new hideouts, and even the predominantly empty Warsaw zoo
was used.60 Although stubborn and willful sometimes, she was a brilliant organizer and trained a
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw, and Zofia Lewin 47.
Mieszkowska 79-81.
Bartoszewski, The Samaritans 13.
Ringelblum 122.
Bartoszewski, The Warsaw Ghetto: A Christian's Testimony 89.
Rubin 21.
Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers. PBS, 2012. Documentary Film. Interview with Jadwiga Piotrowska.
Ackerman, Diane. The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story. 2007. 246, 314.
7
large group of couriers like Magda Rusinek, who knew where the children were placed and
delivered money for their care.61 News of the mass murder of Jews was recounted to the
Western Allies by eyewitness Jan Karski, a representative of the Polish government-in-exile, but
no action was taken other than a delayed declaration of punishment for the perpetrators after the
War.62 The world watched silently as the deportation continued until the spring of 1943. On
April 19, 1943, the underground resistance staged an armed rebellion against the German army
in the Warsaw ghetto that lasted until May 16. 63 Most of the Jews were killed, fighting to the
end. Sendler could not save anyone else. The ghetto was obliterated.
On October 20, 1943, through the confession of a prisoner, the Nazis became aware of Sendler's
activities. She was arrested, taken to Pawiak prison, and tortured by the Gestapo. They broke her
arms and legs with a vice and hammer, but not her spirit. She withstood the torture, which
crippled her for life, refusing to betray either her associates or the Jewish children in hiding.
Sentenced to death, Sendler was saved at the last minute by a guard in exchange for a huge bribe
arranged by Zegota.64 She spent the rest of the war hiding under false identity, continuing her
work with children and as a nurse tending to the wounded in the Warsaw city uprising. 65 She
could not even attend her mother’s funeral.
The war ended in 1945, but not for Sendler. The new Soviet-endorsed communist Polish
government persecuted Zegota and its members, and arrested, interrogated, and executed many.
61
Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers. Interview with Magda Rusinek.
Bartoszewski, The Warsaw Ghetto: A Christian's Testimony 48.
63
Bruce 41.
64
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw, and Zofia Lewin 56-58.
65
Mieszkowska 109-114.
62
8
Sendler continued to work in key positions in Social Services, but she was repeatedly
interrogated and miscarried her second child due to the stress. 66 She excavated the jars to reunite
children with their families, but most families had perished. 67 She wrote about her work and
filed testimonies at the Jewish Historical Institute at Warsaw. As the political climate changed in
Poland during the 1960s, the government began to persecute Jews again. Sendler stood in
solidarity with the Jews and spoke out against the government. She was forced to retire early and
her children were denied access to higher education.68 She was honored in 1965 by Yad Vashem
Institute at Jerusalem, Israel, as one of the righteous who saved Jews, but in her own country, she
was largely unsung.69
Incredibly, in 1999, it was three students from a school in rural Kansas who, after reading US
News clip “The other Schindlers” about other saviors of Jews during the Holocaust, 70 pursued
her story for a National History Day project and made her story widely known to Poland and the
world. Irena Sendler was awarded Poland's highest distinction, the Order of White Eagle, and the
Jan Karski award for Valor and Courage in 2003. She was designated a national hero in Poland
and nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. 71 However, dearer to her was the love
of the children she had saved. Elzbieta Ficowska, who was just six months old when she was
saved, remembers her as her third mother. Piotr Zettinger, fortunate to have been reunited with
his mother post-war, affectionately recollects the bath Sendler gave him after he had emerged
from the sewers, as his best bath. The grown children Michala Hefer, William Donat, and Michal
66
67
68
69
70
71
Mieszkowska 137,140
Mayer 311-312
Mieszkowska 140.
Yad Vashem; "Smuggling Children out of the Ghetto, Irena Sendler, Poland." Web.
Mayer 359-361.
Storozynski, Alex. "Nobel Prize Is Sought for Polish Heroine." New York The SUN News. 29 Jan. 2007. Web.
9
Glowinski, stand as living proof of the horrors of the genocide. 72 Sendler passed away peacefully
on May 12, 2008 in Warsaw. In Poland, Israel, and even Germany, Sendler’s story is taught in
schools and children are encouraged to follow her example of courage and compassion. The
impact of her story was such that it has kept the horrors of holocaust alive in people’s mind
worldwide.73
Seventy summers have passed since the end of the Second World War, but most survivors still
carry painful and harrowing memories of the past. Deep in their hearts, however, there is also
tremendous gratitude for the little woman who selflessly and steadfastly worked to rescue them
without fear or seeking recognition. "Every child saved with my help is the justification of my
existence on this earth, and not a title to glory. I continue to have pangs of conscience that I did
so little.”74 Sendler told the New York Sun during an interview, “If someone is drowning, you
have to give them your hand. When the war started, all of Poland was drowning in a sea of
blood, and those who were drowning the most were the Jews. And among the Jews, the worst off
were the children. So I had to give them my hand. 75 Irena Sendler kept her promise to her father;
she was among the few, who had the courage, to care.
72
Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers, Interviews with Zettinger, Hefer, Glowinski, Bartoszewski, Donat, Ficowska.
Mary Skinner Email interview January 17, and March 29, 2016
74
Storozynski, Alex. "Nobel Prize Is Sought for Polish Heroine." New York The SUN News. 29 Jan. 2007. Web.
75
Storozynski, Alex. " Web, interview with Irena Sendler.
73
10
Appendix I
Map of Warsaw with the shaded ghetto, showing the small space that 400,000 Jews were crowded in.
Courtesy: Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland.
Map of Warsaw ghetto with the gates that Sendler used to enter and exit, marked in blue arrows
11
Appendix II
Warsaw Ghetto; Starving Jewish children with Star of David armband, and crowded streets.
Courtesy: Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland.
12
Appendix III
Courtesy: Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland.
13
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES:
Ackerman, Diane. The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story. New York: Norton & Co., 2007. Print.
This book outlines the struggle to hide Jews. I was able to get an understanding about the
fear and dangers faced by the Jews and Poles who hid them.
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw. The Samaritans. Ed. Zofia Lewin and Alexander T. Jordan. New
York: Twayne, 1970. Print. This book outlines the torture and confinement of the Jews in
the ghetto, treachery of Germans, Treblinka, and mass murders. I learned about Irena’s
network, rescue of children, her arrest, imprisonment and escape
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw. The Warsaw Ghetto: A Christian's Testimony. Trans. Stephen G.
Capellari. Boston: Beacon, 1987. Print. This is a memoir of Bartoszewski, Polish
resistance worker and one of the founders of Zegota, the council for aid to Jews and later,
the minister of Foreign affairs of Poland. This book provided me a thorough
understanding of life in the ghetto, liquidation of Jews and deportation to Treblinka.
Bartoszewski, Wladyslaw, and Zofia Lewin, eds. Righteous among Nations: How Poles Helped
the Jews 1939-1945. London: Earlscourt, 1969. Print. This book contained personal
experiences of the authors, who are rescuers themselves, and those of many other
survivors and rescuers. I understood how Poles risked their own lives and those of their
families helping the Jews. There is a section dedicated to Irena Sendler, where she tells
her story in her own words that I found to be very informative.
Bialoszewski, Miron. A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising. Trans. Madeline G. Levine. New York:
New York Review, 2014. Print. This book was an eyewitness accounts of the great
Warsaw uprising during August of 1944, when the entire city was at war with the
Germans. This book gave me a good idea about the final rebellion before the war ended
in 1945.
Bruce, George. The Warsaw Uprising. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1972. Print. I learned about
the Warsaw uprising in 1944, as well as the ghetto uprising of 1943, the Pawiak prison
and final liberation of Warsaw.
Felt, Megan Stuart, Elizabeth Cambers Hutton, and Sabrina Coons Murphy. "Facts about Irena,
in Memoriam, Photos." Ed. Norman Conard. Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project.
Elegant Themes. Web. 3 Jan. 2016. <http://www.irenasendler.org/>. This website gave
me many facts and pictures of Irena and the interaction of the authors with Sendler.
Grynberg, Michal, ed. Words to Outlive Us: Voices from the Warsaw Ghetto. Trans. Phillip
Boehm. New York: Metropolitan Henry Holt, 1988. Print. I obtained facts about the
Warsaw ghetto and details about the living conditions and plight of Jews. It provides a
compelling personal eye witness testimonies.
14
Hilberg, Raul, Stanislaw Staron, and Josef Kermisz, eds. The Warsaw Diary of Adam
Czerniakow. Trans. Stanislaw Staron and Staff of Yad Vashem. New York: Stein and
Day, 1979. Print. This book provided a fascinating insight of the conflicts within the
Jewish community, Nazi atrocities and their treachery, especially how they misled the
Jews about the plans for liquidation.
Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers. PBS, 2012. Film. This film gave me access
interviews with survivors and the grown children who had escaped from the Warsaw
ghetto. Interviews with Irena Sendler and other rescuers were very enlightening.
Mieszkowska, Anna. Irena Sendler: Mother of the Holocaust Children. Trans. Witold
Zbiirohowski-Koscia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Print. This book gave me a
detailed account of Irena Sendler’s life in her own words. I obtained extensive
information about her experiences and struggles before, during, and after the war.
Ringelblum, Emmanuel. Polish-Jewish Relations during the Second World War. Ed. Joseph
Kermish and Shmuel Krakowski. Trans. Dafna Allon, Danuta Dabrowska, and Dana
Keren. New York: Howard Fertig, 1976. Print. This book gave me a detailed account
Jewish situation and tragedies during the Holocaust. I gained insight into the relation
between the Poles and Jews, betrayals, assistance, and extensive coverage of life in the
ghetto.
Stevens, Michael E., ed. Voices of the Wisconsin Past: Remembering the Holocaust. Madison:
State Historical Society, 1997. Print. I realized how it felt to be a Jew in Poland during
the Holocaust. This book gives personal accounts of torture, terror, and escape of
survivors.
Tomaszewski, Irene, and Tecia Werbowski. Zegota: The Council for Aid to Jews in Occupied
Poland 1942-45. Montreal: Price-Patterson, 1999. Print. I obtained knowledge about life
and death of Christians and Jews in Poland during World War II, the reason behind
formation of Zegota, its members, the underground and stories of rescuers and rescued in
their own versions.
Interviews:
Recorded interviews with survivors of Warsaw Ghetto: Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their
Mothers. PBS, 2012. Documentary Film.
I learned about each person, their encounter with Irena Sendler, interesting personal anecdotes
and the holocaust.
1. Piotr Zettinger, by Anna Mieszkowska, was interesting, especially the story of his best bath
and how he was reunited with his mother.
2. Michala Hefer, by Ewa Kurek. This was a heart rending interview, describing her sorrow
when she was rescued but her family died during the ghetto uprising.
15
3. William Donat (Yacobowski), by Mary Skinner. I learned that he was a lucky survivor who
found his parents after the war. He described encounters with the blackmailers.
4. Michal Glowinski, by Mary Skinner. Another lucky survivor, who, after the war, was
reunited with his family, also saved by Sendler.
5. Elzbieta Ficowska, by Mary Skinner. It was intriguing to hear of her rescue in a tool box. She
was unaware of her origins, until Sendler explained the truth to her during her teen years.
Recorded Interviews with rescuers: Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers. PBS, 2012.
Documentary Film.
6. Irena Sendler by Mary Skinner. The interviews gave me unique insight into the personality of
Sendler, her beliefs, opinions, determination, and courage. I also heard many of her quotes.
7. Magna Rusinek, by Mary Skinner. I learned about Sendler’s network, rescues and care of the
rescued children.
8. Jadwiga Piotrowska by Michael Nekanda-Trepka. I was able to picture the lists, milk jars and
how they were buried under the apple tree at the interviewee’s residence.
9. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, rescuer, Zegota founder and Polish minister, by Mary Skinner. I
found this interview was very helpful in understanding the extent of Nazi cruelty and the
tremendous efforts of Sendler and her network.
SECONDARY SOURCES:
Atwood, Kathryn J. "Irena Sendler: Life in a Jar." Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of
Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2011. 43-48.
Print. This book had a section on Irena, that was useful during my initial research. There
was information on CENTOS, and tragic situations Sendler encountered, during
separation of children from their parents.
Bülow, Louis. "Irena Sendler: An Unsung Heroine." The Holocaust Essays: The Unsung
Heroines, stories of courage. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.auschwitz.dk/Sendler.htm>. I obtained my opening and ending quote. The
quote belonged to Elie Wiesel a Nobel Prize recipient and Holocaust survivor. This
article gave an overview of Sendler’s story and details of holocaust.
16
Chesnoff, Richard Z. "The Other Schindlers--Steven Spielberg's Epic Film Focuses on Only
One." U.S. News & World Report 21 Mar. 1994: Print. This was the snippet that spurred
the students from Union Town, Kansas to pursue Sendler’s story.
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Dir. John Kent Harrison. Hallmark Hall of Fame:
LXVII, 2009. Film. This film was about Irena Sendler and her struggle during the war,
her arrest and torture. It gave me amazing visuals and made me cry.
Gutman, Yisrael. The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943: Ghetto, Underground, Revolt. Trans. Ina
Friedman. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1982. Print. I found various viewpoints of
the Jews, Poles and Germans, obtained from multiple sources. I understood the
deceitfulness of Germans as they played The Jews and Christian Poles against one other.
The Jewish foundation for the Righteous. "Rescuer Stories: Irena Sendler, Poland." The Jewish
foundation for the Righteous. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <23. https://jfr.org/rescuerstories/sendler-irena/>. As one of the righteous among nations and a major rescuer of the
Jewish children her story was among the chosen ones in this website.
Kile, J. "Moral Heroes: Irena Sendler." Moral Heroes. 14 Dec. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
<http://moralheroes.org/irena-sendler>. This website contained an informative article on
Sendler, with many of her own quotes that were valuable.
Kroll, Chana. "Irena Sendler: Rescuer of the Children of Warsaw." The Jewish woman.org. Web.
11 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/939081/jewish/IrenaSendler.htm>. I obtained many facts about Irena Sendler and how the Kansas girls
discovered and popularized her story.
Mayer, Jack. Life in a Jar, the Irena Sendler Project: Based on the True Story of Irena Sendler
and the Kansas Teens Who Rescued the Rescuer. 2nd ed. Quadraat: Long Trail, 2011.
Print. This was a very valuable book that gave extensive details about Sendler from her
childhood, family and relationship with Jews. I was able to comprehend her strength of
character and fortitude. I obtained details about her escape from prison and life after the
war.
Rubin, Susan Goldman. Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto. Illus. Bill
Fansworth. New York: Holiday, 2011. Print. this book is a pictorial biography of Irena
Sendler, told in simple language with pictures and quotes. The book helped my initial
research on the topic.
Storozynski, Alex. "Nobel Prize Is Sought for Polish Heroine." New York The SUN News. 29
Jan. 2007. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nysun.com/national/nobel-prize-is-soughtfor-polish-heroine/47650>. This article did a feature on Irena's heroism and excerpts of
interview with Irena. I learned about Sendler’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
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Szpilman, Wladyslaw. The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in
Warsaw, 1939-1935. Trans. Anthea Bell. New York: Picador, 1999. Print. This is a
Holocaust memoir of a radio pianist, Szpilman, who survived. The book brought forth the
cruelty of the SS policemen, and gory details of Umschlagplatz.
Weeks, Theodore R. From Assimilation to Anti-Semitism: The "Jewish Question" in Poland,
1850-1914. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University, 2006. Print. I learned about the history
of Jews in Poland, their attempts to integrate with Polish Christians but progressive
decline in trust and growth of anti-Semitic feelings.
Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.
"Smuggling Children out of the Ghetto, Irena Sendler, Poland." Yadvashem. Web. 11 Jan.
2016. <http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/righteous-women/sendler.asp>. On
October 19, 1965, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel, recognized Irena Sendler as one of
the Righteous Among the Nations.
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/01/persecution.asp, 2016. “Rise of the
Nazis and Beginning of Persecution”. I learnt about Nazism and persecution of the Jews
in Germany. I also learnt about Zyklon B, a highly poisonous gas used for extermination
from the Shoah Resource Center of Holocaust studies, in this website.
Interviews:
Author Interviews (personal)
1. Conard, Norman.: Telephonic interview, November 16, 2015. This was the first interview
I conducted. I was able to learn more about Irena and her encounters from Mr. Conard.
He is the history teacher who guided the Kansas girls and accompanied them to Poland to
meet Irena Sendler.
2. Felt, Meghan, Telephonic interview by the Author, November 16, 2015. Talking to Mrs.
Felt was very inspiring. She was one of the three Kansas girls who brought Sendler’s
story to light. She had spent time with Sendler in Poland and knew about her life in
depth. I learnt that Sendler made copies of the lists in the jars and they are safe to this
day. She helped me obtain primary photographs and documents.
3. Mary Skinner Email interview January 17 2016. She was the director and producer of the
documentary on Sendler and had interacted closely with her. I was able to get her
perspective about Sendler’s devotion and compassion for the plight of the Jews, and the
magnitude of her brave deeds.
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