Legacy Matters
Photo: Reuters/Katerina Stoltz
Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic, saved some 2500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto before she was captured by the Gestapo and tortured. Her legs and feet were broken, but she refused to identify the children or the people who helped her. A guard was bribed, she escaped and returned to work using a different identity.
From the Telegraph obituary
She immediately returned to her work using a new identity. Having retrieved her list of names, she buried it in a jar beneath an apple tree in a friend's garden.
In the end it provided a record of some 2,500 names, and after the war she attempted to keep her promise to reunite the children with their families. Most of the parents, however, had been gassed at Treblinka.
--
In later life Irena Sendler recalled the heartbreak of Jewish mothers having to part from their children: "We witnessed terrible scenes. Father agreed, but mother didn't. We sometimes had to leave those unfortunate families without taking their children from them. I'd go back there the next day and often found that everyone had been taken to the Umschlagsplatz railway siding for transport to the death camps."
--
Her father was a physician who ran a hospital at the suburb of Otwock, and a number of his patients were impoverished Jews.
Although he died of typhus in 1917, his example was of profound importance to Irena, who later said: "I was taught that if you see a person drowning, you must jump into the water to save them, whether you can swim or not."
--
In 1965 she became one of the first Righteous Gentiles to be honoured by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem. At that time Poland's Communist leaders would not allow her to travel to Israel, and she was unable to collect the award until 1983.
In 2003 she was awarded Poland's highest honour, the Order of the White Eagle; and last year she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, eventually won by Al Gore.
--
In 2005 Irena Sendler reflected: "We who were rescuing children are not some kind of heroes. That term irritates me greatly. The opposite is true – I continue to have qualms of conscience that I did so little. I could have done more. This regret will follow me to my death."
A great legacy indeed.
I can't believe they passed this extraordinary woman over for a flash-in-the pan headline grabbing opportunist/fraud like Al Gore. Nonetheless, this superficial recognition would have been of little consolation for the guilt she must have felt for "not doing enough." At least she doesn't have to be mentioned alongside would-have-been fellow recipient Yassir Arafat.
Posted by: Bob at May 19, 2008 1:49 AMI wouldn't call Al Gore a fraud but still, Al Gore didn't suffer torture to save 2,500 jews. I mean, saving one jew at that time was already pretty good but 2,500?
Posted by: Jack at August 13, 2008 10:08 AMI am offended that some tiny-minded folk choose to focus their comments on the work of Mr. Gore and debate the merits of his peace prize - this has NOTHING to do with the work of this great woman, who no doubt harbors no ill-will to Mr. Gore, or whoever else was nominated. I'm sure she did what she did because of the kindness in her heart.
A lesson for all!
Posted by: steve at August 13, 2008 12:19 PMIt sure does say something about the priorities of those who made the decision about who should win.
Posted by: Christina Martin at August 13, 2008 4:21 PMNo need to slight anyone for their good work because you think someone else may be more deserving of a prize. If it's about numbers, you may want to consider that Mr. Gores work could well lead to saving the lives of millions. I'm sure there are other deserving people that we've never heard of and were never even nominated.
Posted by: Kevin F Wilson at August 16, 2008 10:32 AMHere i Norway, home of the Nobel Peace Price, we concider the price of 2007 given to the work of fighting climate changes, and not to Mr. Gore himself i particular.
Mr. Arafat had back in the eighties, for decades committed terror in Israel, Lebanon and elsewhere, but made an offer to become more peaceful in PLO's negotiating with the israelis. He was awarded the price along with then israeli primeminister Yitzhak Rabin and foreign minister Shimon Peres for thei attempt to come to the negotiation table.
That award played a major part in the processes that lead to the Oslo agreement a few years later.
So, let's honour a true polish heroine who saved a lot of lives, in stead of growling over one of the front figures in the fight for a better climate.
The Peace Prize is political BS, nothing more. It's one of the most narcissistic organizations on the planet, and of no use. I doubt there is a single person on the committee that chose the winner who is worthy to stand in the shadow of this woman.
I would say, perhaps, that bestowing such a dubious honor on here would have been more an insult to her memory than anything else.
Posted by: Conn at August 19, 2008 2:45 AMIt is wasted motion about how the selection process by-passed Irena, to petition for a wider recognition of her example of a life lived honorably and displaying true courage is more appropriate. Her empathy and dedication to saving others is worthy of an INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY recognizing this type of behavior, because her values are worth of celebration and promotion.
I suggest her birthday be chosen, it connects the honor to her honorable life and could be a way to have every culture to promote a respect for all life.
Irena Sandler should have been honored by the whole world years ago. What a great idea to have her birthday a holiday!
Posted by: Judy Booms at September 5, 2008 9:42 PM