Polish Woman Who Saved Warsaw Children Dies

[Etta Place]

Definitely a hero.

Sendler, savior of Warsaw Ghetto children, dies
2 hours, 29 minutes ago



Irena Sendler, a Polish woman who saved thousands of Jewish children during World War Two by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, died in the Polish capital on Monday after a long illness, local media said.

Israel's Holocaust remembrance authority, Yad Vashem, said in a statement that it mourned her death.

The web portal of Poland's leading daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, said Sendler, 98, died in Plocka Street hospital early on Monday. The hospital declined to comment on the report.

Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev said: "Irena Sendler's courageous activities rescuing Jews during the Holocaust serve as a beacon of light to the world, inspiring hope and restoring faith in the innate goodness of mankind."

Using her position as a social worker, Sendler regularly entered the ghetto, smuggling around 2,500 children out in boxes, suitcases or hidden in trolleys.

The children were then placed with Polish families outside the ghetto, created by Nazi Germany in 1940 for the city's half a million strong Jewish population, and given new identities.

But in 1943 Sendler, who led the children' section of the Zegota organization which helped Jews during the war, was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo.

She only escaped execution when Zegota managed to bribe some Nazi officials, who left her unconscious but alive with broken legs and arms in the woods.

"People who stand up for others, for the weak, are very rare. The world would have been a better place if there were more of them," Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, said on national television.

His sentiments were echoed by former Polish President Lech Walesa as well as religious leaders.

Sendler was honored with Israeli Yad Vashem Righteous Among the Nations medal in 1965 for her actions, and later made an honorary Israeli citizen.

She was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Price last year but, despite her bravery, she denied she was a hero.

"The term 'hero' irritates me greatly. The opposite is true. I continue to have pangs of conscience that I did so little," Sendler said in one of her last interviews.

(Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Sendler, savior of Warsaw Ghetto children, dies - Yahoo! News

[Frenchy]

"The term 'hero' irritates me greatly.

But it's most appropriate.

[Delija]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

But it's most appropriate.

Really....if she does not define what a hero is, who does?



Peace,
D.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by Delija

Really....if she does not define what a hero is, who does?



Peace,
D.

I have that right.

[jmichna]

Majowy ona odpoczywają z Bogiem.
Majowy Bóg uśmiech na jej.

[Etta Place]

Originally Posted by jmichna

Majowy ona odpoczywają z Bogiem.
Majowy Bóg uśmiech na jej.

I take it that's Polish. What does it mean? Care to share?

[XDConvert9mm]

Originally Posted by Etta Place

I take it that's Polish. What does it mean? Care to share?

They rest with god may . May god of smile on its (her).

A rough translation but a great sentiment.

Free Polish-English-Polish Translator and online Polish Dictionary.

[bountyhunter]

There were some amazingly brave people in that war. Gob bless her, I am sure He already has.

Interesting how the chess game of this world is played out: Satan's servants sent forth the holocaust, his minions hid and sheltered many of the Nazi's who did it from justice after the war. But God has people like this lady to fight on His side, and look who always wins in the end.

[jmichna]

Originally Posted by Etta Place

I take it that's Polish. What does it mean? Care to share?

May she rest with God, and may He smile upon her.

[Etta Place]

Originally Posted by jmichna

May she rest with God, and may He smile upon her.

Thanks!