Irena Sendler – mother of three and second mother of two thousand children

Thousands of lives were saved by the bravery and compassion of Irena Sendler during one of the worst periods in history. She was an incredible woman. During World War II, she raised over two thousand Jewish children as a "second mother" and was a mother of three. She put her life in danger and worked nonstop to find these kids safe homes and a second chance at life after rescuing them from the Warsaw Ghetto.

The tale of Sendler is one of bravery, selflessness, and unwavering resolve. She never shied away from helping people in need, even in spite of the risks she faced. She helped many families who would have otherwise perished as a result of Nazi persecution by giving them hope and protection.

Her legacy serves as a potent reminder of the difference one person can make when injustice is faced. Generations have been inspired by Irena Sendler’s bravery and deeds of kindness, which demonstrate that humanity and love can triumph even in the most difficult circumstances.

The extraordinary Irena Sendler put her life in danger during World War II to protect more than two thousand Jewish children from the atrocities of the Holocaust. She became a second mother to countless others by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, giving them new identities, and placing them in safe homes, all while raising her own three children. She is a real hero and an inspiration to courage in the face of unfathomable danger because of her bravery, compassion, and commitment to humanity.

Childhood and youth of Irena

Irena Krzyżanowska was born on February 15, 1910 in Warsaw. Parents, Janina Karolina Grzybowska and Stanisław Krzyżanowski, loved the little girl madly and openly spoiled her. They were afraid for their daughter"s fragile health, so at the first opportunity they took her to the provincial Otwock, closer to nature. The girl"s father was a doctor, a member of the Polish Socialist Party, and carried out underground work. He provided medical care to all those in need, regardless of their solvency and nationality. Thus, among his patients there were many poor Jews. Stanislav died of typhus, infected by patients, when Irena was only seven years old. But she managed to imbue her father’s ideas, to absorb his philanthropy and heightened sense of justice.

The girl joined the scout organization at school and became an activist (Polish National Scout Association – approximate ed.). And when she was sixteen, she nearly got kicked out of the school for writing a message about the May coup, which was a military takeover of Poland in May of 1926.

"The Jewish community supported Stanislav’s widow and daughter after his death."

Knowing that people are impoverished and occasionally give the least, Yanina first turned down the money that had been collected. However, this assistance turned into a lifeline when the family lost their job. Irena’s initial years of university education at the University of Warsaw were funded in part by the Jewish community.

Simultaneously with entering the philology department, Irena joins the Polish Socialist Party. It was a time of flourishing anti-Semitism. The girl, who had been friends with Jewish children all her childhood and knew Yiddish well, was shocked by the introduction of the "shop ghetto". Students of Jewish origin had to be separated from other students during classes. They were not even allowed to sit – they stood on the left side of the room, while Aryan students sat on the right. Needless to say, which side of the room Irena and her like-minded people chose? By crossing out in her grade book the indication which side of the room was Aryan, the girl thereby deprived herself of the opportunity to officially attend classes for three years. When the dean"s office saw how the student handled the document, she was suspended.

It was only with the assistance of a professor who agreed with her that Irena was allowed to return.

She only completed her university education in 1939, when she was 29 years old. She was forced to give up on her dream of becoming a teacher because at the time, radical viewpoints prohibited such a career.

Her thirtyth birthday coincided with her hiring into the Social Welfare Department and, for all of her countrymen, the Nazi German occupation of Poland.

Sister Jolanta

Approximately 25% of Warsaw was made up of the Jewish district at the start of the occupation. The Warsaw ghetto was set up in March 1940. The percentage of Jewish residents fell from twenty to four percent. 440 thousand people, or more than a third of the city’s population, were living in filthy, extremely small quarters in this area by the end of 1940.

Irena led a double life and worked in the Warsaw Health Department at the start of the conflict. She belonged to the underground Jewish assistance group Zegota under the alias Jolanta.

Sister Jolanta needed no excuse to visit the Warsaw ghetto on a regular basis. The fear of epidemics hung over the city like the sword of Damocles due to the appalling conditions and overcrowding. It took people to diagnose and care for patients. Irena was ideal for this position. She knew that the food and medication she was smuggling was a drop in the ocean. People were falling ill and starving to death in large numbers.

Jewish families were then started to be sent to death camps. There was no way to save them. The adults, anyway. Subsequently, Irena and her allies discovered a way to remove kids from the ghetto. They all put their own and their loved ones’ lives in danger for this.

The least evil

Young children were removed from boxes, crates, and clothing. There have been instances where corpses, waste, and dirty laundry were removed with babies who had been given sleeping pills. One of the truck drivers had a special dog, and he gave it orders to start barking in order to block out the children’s cries.

In order to avoid being discovered by the patrol, older kids were trained to sneak through collapsed buildings and sewers while timing their steps to the second. The children who had been saved were given new names and placed in orphanages or new families.

Usually, this is how the heroic tale of Irena and her kindred spirits concludes: they saved approximately 2,500 children, making it a happy ending. Even so, the rescue was tragic in that the parents realized their chances of seeing their kids again were very slim. And they gave them to strangers, Irena, to save, with a great deal of pain in their hearts. The lesser of two evils was this. Many refused to part with the small ones because they firmly thought that they could all save themselves. They also passed away.

After the arrest

Sister Yolanta was detained and imprisoned in Pawiak prison in October 1943 following a denunciation.

She endured intense torture in addition to questioning. Irena’s legs and arms were broken. However, she kept the identities of her allies and the children who had been saved a secret.

Irena preserved a unique card index so that her family members would have the chance to get together after the war. She wrote the children’s addresses and both their old and new names on the cards. Irena’s friend assisted her in concealing the information after she was arrested. In her home’s yard, beneath an apple tree, were glass jars containing the records. It was critical that this information be kept private and undisclosed.

Irena was sentenced to death, along with many others, when the Germans realized she would not speak out. "Żegota" bought her salvation by offering a bribe to a police officer. Rather than firing at Irena, he released her. Afterwards, she went by Klara Dąbrowska and carried on saving lives.

Sendler could not even attend the funeral of her own mother because, according to the documents, she had passed away.

Irena Sendler"s family

It seems that such dangerous activity is incompatible with personal life – in case of disclosure, arrest threatened her loved ones as well. That is why during the war Irena was very worried about her elderly mother, but she could not stay away from the events. While still a student, Irena married Mieczysław Sendlerova. Later her surname was changed to the American style. In the year of marriage, the girl was 21 years old. Her husband was a Jew and worked as a junior assistant at the department of classical philology at the same university where his wife studied. The spouses did not have children, everyone was passionate about their own business, gradually young people moved away from each other and parted before the start of the war, although they did not divide officially.

Irena first met Stefan Zgzhembsky (Adam Tselnikier), and it wasn’t until 1947—after Moshchelav’s repatriation—that they were able to tie the knot and work out a divorce. Yanina, Adam, and Anjas were the three children Stefan and Irena had. Sadly, they were unable to lead a peaceful family life.

Despite common sense, Irena did not turn into a national hero following the war. Conversely, she endured a protracted period of haunting due to suspicions that she had collaborated with the Kraiova army and the Polish government in exile.

A seven-month pregnant woman was made to endure torturous interrogations in 1948. Andrzej, the prematurely born son, passed away quickly.

Irena’s marriage to Stefan ended in 1961, and she went on to marry her first husband again, with whom she had a happy marriage for ten more years before divorcing him.

Irena dedicated her life to social work; she opened and oversaw shelters, assisted in guardianship, assisted everyone in need. Recalls daughter Janina:

How much my brother and I despised our mother’s social activities! Mom believed that because we had a roof over our heads and were not hungry, we were happy. No conversation was had about our other needs at home.

Yes, Irena thought that having a nice meal, a house of your own, and loved ones close by was already a great source of happiness after the horrors of the war. Despite being born during a time of peace, her children occasionally did not receive her full attention. And they couldn’t truly appreciate her accomplishment and humanity until they grew up and heard her story.

Janina and Adam had a difficult time; for instance, their mother’s biography prevented them from being admitted to the University of Warsaw’s full-time department.

The daughter had to study by correspondence but, like her mother, she graduated from the philology department. Currently, Janina Zgrzhembska conducts interviews, hosts themed gatherings, and preserves her mother’s memory. 1999 saw Adam’s death from heart failure.

Other children of Irena Sendler

Irena is a really humble individual. She refrained from discussing her work because she did not see it as a feat. She could not act any other way because she was a true daughter of her father. She made a concerted effort to emphasize that other people had assisted her and that this was not just her merit when the world discovered that her personal list of rescued individuals was twice as long as Schindler’s list. Adoptive parents wished to avoid disturbing the child’s mental state with traumatic memories, and parents who saved children occasionally already knew their story as adults. Frequently, there was no one to take them back, parents perished from illnesses or in concentration camps.

Nevertheless, after hearing their tale, a lot of people wanted to thank Irena first. She was, quite rightly, their mother. As she grew older, she continued to receive visits from the children she had saved as well as their offspring and grandchildren.

That means that this courageous woman is the world’s greatest mother of children. After all of this, would her own kids be upset with her for occasionally not giving them enough attention?

The bravery and kindness of Irena Sendler during one of the worst periods in history serve as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. She put everything on the line to save the lives of Jewish children, acting only out of moral conviction and without regard for praise or recognition.

Her experience serves as an example for all of us, demonstrating that one person can have a significant impact even in the face of unfathomable danger. Not only did Irena’s bravery save lives, but it also kept hope alive for future generations.

Thousands of descendants of the children Irena Sendler saved carry on her legacy today. Her deeds serve as a reminder that courage and kindness can win out even in the most trying circumstances.

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