Irena Sendler, a young Polish woman involved in aiding Jews, was arrested by the Gestapo 80 years ago this month

Irena Sendler, a young Polish woman involved in aiding Jews, was arrested by the Gestapo 80 years ago this month.

Using her position as a social worker, Irena supplied food and offered financial assistance to Jews imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto in German-occupied Poland.

But her efforts didn't end there. By early 1943, she had joined newly formed "Żegota," the Polish Council to Aid Jews, a clandestine rescue organization that was funded by the Polish government-in-exile. Irena would later become head of its children's section. Under the alias "Jolanta," she helped smuggle several hundred Jewish children out of the ghetto and found hiding places for them in orphanages, convents, and private homes.

In fall 1943, Irena was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in Pawiak prison. She was later released from prison thanks to a bribe organized by her fellow rescuers. Despite the danger, she assumed a new identity and went back to working for Żegota.

In 1965, Irena was honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.

Photo: Yad Vashem

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