Irena Sendler

"During World War II, Irena Sendler risked her life to save more than 2,000 Jewish children in Warsaw, Poland, whose parents would later die in concentration camps." (Brennan, Carol).  Irena Sendler was born in 1910 in Otwock, Poland. Little did her parents know she would grow to save thousands from death during the Holocaust. She grew up with a father who worked as a doctor and influenced her life and beliefs in many ways. Her father was one of the only doctors who treated sick Jews, but he died from Typhus disease when Sendler was just seven years old. She grew up a Roman Catholic and later became a social worker, but is most known for saving the Jews during the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the mass murdering of the Jewish population for no significant reason, and Irena Sendler was forced to the extremes of smuggling children out and forging papers to save them from death. Although the Holocaust took place throughout Europe, Sendler saved the kids from the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland, where disease was more common than food. Sendler kept saving more and more children, until the Holocaust finally ended in 1945 with more than 6 million Jews murdered. In the end, she saved 2,500 children and she died in 2008 at age 98. A true hero such as Irena Sendler possesses the characteristic traits of determination and fearlessness. Determination is defined as not giving up, and or solving an issue. Fearlessness means without fear; bold or brave. Irena Sendler is determined, unwilling to give up, and fearless, therefore she is a true hero. 

Determination led Irena Sendler to save 2,500 Jewish children from certain death in the Holocaust concentration camps. Sendler realized she was unable to save every child, so she also tried to improve their life in the ghetto by helping to improve conditions any way she could. For example, DuBord states in his article about Sendler's accomplishments, "She began to smuggle in food, medicine, and clothing, and to file with the Germans false documents that contained made-up Polish names of those who supposedly qualified for aid--aid that Irena and her team would then distribute to the Jews." (DuBord). Irena Sendler was determined to save the Jewish population. She went to all extremes to help them. She was determined to help the children escape and was determined to stop the suffering in the ghetto regardless of the risk it brought upon herself. Not only did Sendler have to get through the Nazi guards to smuggle the children to safety, she also had to convince the parents of the kids to allow her to take them away from their families and homes. DuBord describes her experience by saying, "Parents were understandably hesitant to trust strangers with their children.All too often Irena would plead with the parents to let their child go.Irena would return a day or two later intending to try again to persuade the parents only to find their home empty and the family already deported to Treblinka."(DuBord). Irena Sendler so was determined to save the children that she resorted to begging their parents to allow her to take them away from their homes. She knew how hard it was for families to separate; yet she tried to convince as many families as she could to let her take their children. She didn't give up if the families refused. She would return in order to offer them the opportunity again and again. However sometimes the families had already been sent to Treblinka, a concentration camp. Sendler wanted to save as many children as she could no matter what she had to go though to reach her goal. Determination pushed Irena Sendler to save 2,500 lives. If Sendler gave up, many more children would have been murdered during the Holocaust.

Not only was Irena Sendler determined she also did not give up on her goal, and did not seek or expect any recognition for her heroic accomplishments. Even when Sendler was discovered to be helping the Jews by Nazis, she did not give up to their torture or their punishment: "On October 20, 1943, Irena was arrested and taken to the notorious Pawiak Prison. Interrogated and tortured to the point of suffering fractures to her legs and feet that would permanently hinder her ability to walk, Irena nonetheless steadfastly refused to divulge the names of Zegota members or the children she had saved. She was sentenced to death and was on her way to execution when the miracles she had arranged for so many innocent children came back to her in the nick of time."(DuBord). As said in the quote, Irena Sendler was discovered to be helping the Jews, punishable by death. Yet when the Nazis captured her and began to beat her to death, she didn't release any confidential information about what she was doing to save the Jews, even though it may have saved her life. She didn't care if she was getting beaten, Sendler still wanted to leave the hope that some Jewish children would be able to survive the Holocaust. Sendler acted fearless by not caring if she died if it meant the children could live. Not only did Irena Sendler have to worry about risking her life, she was in charge of preserving the lives of others. Sendler also had to convince the parents of the children to allow her to take them away: "In 1942, as conditions worsened and thousands of Jews were rounded up daily and sent to die at the Treblinka death camp. 'Those scenes over whether to give a child away were heart-rending. Sometimes, they wouldn't give me the child. Their first question was, 'What guarantee is there that the child will live?' I said, 'None. I don't even know if I will get out of the ghetto alive today.'" (Irena Sendler). Irena Sendler would never give up on her mission, regardless of setbacks. When families wouldn't let her take their child, she would move on to another family and try to save theirs. She didn't give up when people gave up on her. Sendler didn't give up even with the knowledge that she could be killed at any moment for her work. She didn't give up when the Nazis began to kill more and more Jews. Irena Sendler never gave up, and that is how she heroically saved 2,500 Jewish children from death. She didn't tell people about her heroic life saving, instead she kept it to herself and went on with her life. However when people did start to find out that she saved 2,500 children's lives, Sendler did not want to be rewarded for what she did. She didn't save the children to win the Nobel Peace Prize; she did it because she knew it was the right thing to do. Irena Sendler is a true hero because she never gave up on her goals nor did she expect recognition for her achievements.

Irena Sendler did not have any fear of losing her life to save the children. She did not have any fears of what she would see or experience in the ghetto. Her only fear was if she did not save the children in time: "Irena Sendler, a petite social worker, was not yet thirty years old .When the city's Jews were imprisoned behind a ghetto wall without food or medicine, she appealed to her closest friends and colleagues.Together, they smuggled aid in and smuggled Jewish orphans out of the ghetto by hiding infants on trams and garbage wagons and leading older children out through secret passageways and the city's sewers." (Irena Sendler). Irena Sendler possesses the heroic trait of bravery. Her bravery shows through her work of saving 2,500 children from death in the Holocaust concentration camps. For example, Sendler wasn't even thirty years old when she risked her life. She only cared about saving as many children as she could. Not only that, but Sendler tried to recruit as many people as she could to help her, including her own friends. Some of her friends did end up joining forces and helped her save lives. They all went to extreme lengths to save the children, such as smuggling them out of the ghetto, which put the children and themselves at high risk for death. Sendler should have feared being discovered by the Nazis, but the ghetto itself was laced with more fear than losing her life. DuBord quotes Sendler describing her experience in the ghetto for the first time: "The first time I went into the ghetto it made a hellish impression on me. There were children on the street ... starving ... begging for a piece of bread. I'd go out on my rounds in the morning and see a starving child lying there. I'd come back a few hours later, and he would already be dead ... covered with a newspaper.'"(DuBord).  Fearless: adjective: without fear; bold or brave. This quote shows how fearless Irena Sendler is. It describes how although Sendler was deeply disturbed and scared from her first visit to the ghetto, she still wanted to help the people living there. Sendler didn't care how the living conditions affected her; she wanted to help the people living there escape. She had no fear for what she saw or would see in the future, only determination to save the Jewish race. Irena Sendler went to all extremes to save as many children as she could. She didn't care how gruesome the tasks were, she went to all lengths to do things as best as she could and had to work fast. Although she could have died, Sendler did not fear what would possibly happen to her. That can also be seen with the ghetto. Although sneaking in and out of the ghetto was extremely dangerous and should have been done as little as possible, Sendler was constantly going in and out with more and more children every day. The more she went in, the higher the risk was of being discovered. Yet Sendler still did not fear the loss of her own life, she feared others losing theirs. Being fearless was what led Irena Sendler to accomplish her goals and become a true hero.

Because Irena Sendler possessed the heroic qualities of determination, the unwillingness of giving up, and fearlessness, she saved 2,500 Jewish children from certain death during the Holocaust. Her determination gave her the hope and drive to save as many kids as possible. Her unwillingness of giving up allowed her to push through her doubts and strive to achieve her goal. Lastly, Sendler's fearlessness allowed her to save the children no matter what she was forced to endure. Irena Sendler serves as an inspiration to me in the way that she helps others. I can relate to Irena Sendler, because I am Jewish, and that is why she inspires me to do good for other people. My great grandfather was in the Holocaust, and he managed to escape the concentration camps. He traveled in hiding throughout Europe and to America where he was safe. However, the rest of his family (including his six brothers and sisters and parents), were all murdered by the Nazis. Sendler grew up as a Roman Catholic, yet she still helped as many Jewish children as she could escape death in the Concentration Camps. Sendler went to all extremes to get as many kids to safety as she could. Irena Sendler didn't save the Jewish children because she had to; she did it because she wanted to. Irena Sendler has heroic traits that make her inspirational. For example, she didn't just watch the Jews get murdered as most Germans did. Instead, she showed true bravery by risking her life to save them. Sendler also showed compassion, a trait which many people lack (such as Hitler himself). She felt bad for the slaughter of her nations Jews for no specific reason, and she did the best that she could to improve their life and return it back to normal. So by risking her own life, Sendler was able to save thousands of others. Irena Sendler once again serves as an inspiration to me by the way that she was not afraid. She wasn't afraid how hard the task was of smuggling a child out of the ghetto. She wasn't afraid of trying to convince parents to let her take their kids. She was not afraid that she could be killed at any moment for even associating with a Jew. Sendler didn't care what would happen to her, she wanted to save others. And save others she did. Sendler was able to save 2,500 Jewish children from death during the Holocaust.

Works Cited 

"Sendler, Irena." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 28. Detroit: Gale, 2008. 318-320. Gale Virtual Reference

Library. Web. 4 May 2014.

DuBord, Steven J. "Irena Sendler: humble Holocaust heroine: during World War II, Polish Catholic social worker Irena Sendler

risked her life to save thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto." The New American 4 Mar. 2013: 34+.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.

"Irena Sendler." Newsmakers. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Biography in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.

"Irena Sendler." Home. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 13 May 2008. Web. 07 May 2014.

Brennan, Carol. "Sendler, Irena (1910-2008)." Newsmakers. Ed. Laura Avery. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Student Resource

Center - Junior. Gale. DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL. 8 May. 2014 

"Irena Sendler: In the Name of Their Mothers." PBS. PBS, May 2011. Web. 8 May 2014. 

.