Irena Sendler: Saving 2,500 Jewish Children from the Warsaw Ghetto

The Life of Irena Sendler

A Holocaust Hero

Irena Sendler was 29 when Nazi forces invaded Warsaw, Poland, and began imprisoning Jewish people in ghettos. Before this, Irena grew up with strong morals and kindness in her heart. She believed that no matter a person's ethnicity or social status, they should always be treated with kindness, respect, and love. Irena learned these strong morals from her father, whose dying words to her were, "*If you see someone drowning, you must jump in and save them, whether you can swim or not*." These kind words of advice stuck with Irena throughout the rest of her life.

When Jews were forced to sit separately from "Aryan" students at Warsaw University, where Irena attended, she stood up for her Jewish friends. One day, she went to sit on the Jewish side of the room. When asked to move by a teacher, her response was, "*I'm Jewish today*." Irena was then immediately expelled.

A Senior Administrator in the Warsaw Social Welfare Department

Later in life, Irena Sendler became a senior administrator in the Warsaw Social Welfare Department. Through this group, Irena began to help Jewish people, and her journey to becoming a Holocaust hero started.

Forging Documents and Joining Zegota

Between the years 1939 and 1942, Irena used forged documents to register Jews under Christian names so that they could receive services from the Warsaw Social Welfare Department. Still wanting to help more, she joined the Zegota Council for Aid to Jews. Through this group, Irena obtained a pass to enter the Warsaw Ghetto. Using this pass, she smuggled in food, medicine, and clothing to the thousands of people in the ghetto.

The Children's Department of Zegota

In 1942, Irena Sendler was put in charge of the Children's Department of Zegota. There, she and a team of 25 others planned to smuggle as many children as possible out of the Warsaw Ghetto. Through Zegota, Irena helped save the lives of 2,500 Jewish children.

Posing as a Nurse

Irena would pose as a nurse to enter the ghetto and went by the name Jolanta while she worked. One day, while she was in the Warsaw Ghetto, Irena witnessed something that would change her life forever.

Smuggling Children Out of the Ghetto

Irena Sendler and her team would get the children out of the Warsaw Ghetto by going door to door and begging mothers to give them their children. When parents did give up their children in hopes of giving them their best chance, Irena would get them out of the ghetto by putting the children in ambulances, toolboxes, burlap sacks, or disguising them as packages.

New Identities and Safe Homes

She would then give the children new names, and they were taught Catholic prayers in Polish and how to behave in church to make them appear to have never been Jewish. The Jewish children were then given homes with Polish families, orphanages, or convents.

Keeping Records

Irena always kept a detailed record of the children's original identities in jars buried beneath her neighbor's apple tree in hopes of one day reuniting them with their families. As she once said, "*I wanted to give those children back to their parents, to their families, to their language, to their country*."