Title

Irena Sendler [Sendlerova] Autograph

Authors

Object ID

2015.2.61

Object Name

Card, Commemorative

Date

5-12-2008

Files

Description

Front: White card with printed photograph of an older woman in black sitting and looking at the camera. A chest with teacups and photos resting on top of it is behind her. Beneath the photograph is an autograph in blue ink.Back: Pencil writing on top.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Irena Sendler (Sendlerova), also known as Jolanta, was a Polish Roman Catholic nurse/social worker who worked in the Polish Underground during World War II. She was the head of the children's section of Zegota in German-occupied Warsaw. She was able, with the help of other members of Zegota, to smuggle 2500 children out of the Warsaw Ghetto and secure false identity papers and housing for them, thus saving their lives. On strips of paper hidden in a jar, she wrote their birth names and their new names. Arrested and tortured by the Gestapo in 1943, she refused to divulge the names of her comrades or those of her rescued children. She was sentenced to death by firing squad but was saved by Zegota by bribing the German guards. She lived in hiding yet continued her efforts to help the children. She was honored by Yad Vashem as one of the Polish Righteous Among the Nations. Pope John Paul II also praised her efforts. The recipient of many awards, the Polish Government presented her as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Dimensions

5 x 3"

Keywords

Roman Catholic, Polish Underground, Zegotat, Warsaw, Ghetto, Getsapo Polish Righteous Among Nations, Nobel Peace Prize, Irena Sendler, Irena Senderlova, Jolanta Sendler, Yad Vashem, Pope John Paul II

Subcollection

Diplomats

Recommended Citation

"Irena Sendler [Sendlerova] Autograph" (2008). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2015.2.61.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/184