I am writing this too late. There are many excuses, but a I’ve never begged forgiveness for not posting regularly, and I shan’t begin today. But this needs to be noted. A passing.
This is Irena Sendler, Righteous Among the Nations. She died on Monday, in Warsawa. She was 98 years old.
(Photo courtesy Mariusz Kubik.)
My heritage is northern European. Mostly German, but also some Lithuanian and Polish. On my father’s side, the clan escaped from the Russians, and lost their holdings in around Siauliai. My aunt (and Godmother) Irene is my last connection with that side.
The other side of the family is German, and both of my grandparents fought in the Second World War, my Omi in the civil defence corps (the Luftschutz), and Opi with Guderian during the invasion of Poland, Dunkirk, and finally, in Barbarossa – the invasion of Russia.
This story deserves more attention, but the upshot of it all is that I’ve never felt any particular guilt in in my German heritage. I abhor unequivocally the atrocities of the Nazi regime. I also understand (a little) the motivations of the average German, like my grandparents, in the fighting of that war. In their minds, they were being patriotic in protecting the Fatherland.
But to this day, I feel a very strong affinity towards Jews, their struggle towards their own homeland, and their history of oppression.
Perhaps that’s why I’m drawn to the story of Irena Sendler, a Righteous Gentile, who saved thousands of Jews in her capacity as a social worker to the Jewish Ghetto in Warawa during the Second World War.
I visited Warsawa for three days in August 2004. I arrived on the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, the first significant anniversary to be able to be celebrated after the fall of Soviet rule. It was Sunday, and I knew something was afoot.
But this is not the story of that visit, nor of the uprising that killed ten or eighteen thousand Polish fighters. It’s the story of a courageous woman who risked her life, and upon discovery, survived toruture at the hands of the Nazis.
Her story is summrized at the blog of the Renaissance Bayou Man:
Irena Sendler was finally exposed and arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 as well. They tortured her brutally, leaving scars on her body which never faded. Despite their tortures, she never gave away even one of her assistants, or the identity of a single Jewish child she had rescued. She was sentenced to death, but her associates bribed a German guard to smuggle her out of the prison. She was dumped in the woods, arms and legs broken, unconscious, and later rescued.
She saved 2 500 Jewish children by sneaking them out of hte ghetto, and providing shelter and false documents so that they’d remain safe.
She lived the last years of her life in Warsawa, modestly, her income supplemented by a pension provided by the State of Israel. By all accounts she was a modest woman.
“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.”
Something to be remembered.
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