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This short podcast gives a brief summary of what the book is about.

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This article, although much shorter than the book, gives a simplified, yet detailed account of all that Irene accomplished during the war.

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Teenage Nurse Rescue Jews During the Holocaust

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Irene was a teenager when the Nazi attack on Poland changed her life forever. She was separated from her family, escaped twice from incarceration, and captured and raped by Soviet soldiers. Her most difficult predicament was also her noblest: she saved the lives of 16 Polish Jews, hiding some of them literally beneath the noses of the German officers.

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"In my fantasies, I was always caught up in heroic struggles, and I saw myself saving lives, sacrificing myself for others" (14).
In this photo, Irene is reunited with some of the people she saved after the war had ended. Her dreams of saving lives came true.

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This website gives more information on the Polish resistance, which Irene joined after escaping from the Nazis. Their main goal was to drive both Germany and Russia out of Poland, so it could be free once again.

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Citation: C N Trueman "The Polish Resistance"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 18 May 2015. 2 Jun 2018.

The Polish resistance movement was very active in World War Two. Up until the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Poles had two enemies - Communist Russia and Nazi Germany. Both had attacked Poland in September 1939. Germany's attack on Russia took one of these enemies out of the equation for now. Poland's resistance movement could concentrate all its resources on a common enemy.

Poland was the principal focus of military transport for the Germans after June 1941. The country acted as a conduit for the front in Russia. Therefore, there were many targets for the Polish resistance movement and from June 1941 to December 1941, they destroyed 1,935 railway engines, derailed 90 trains, blew up three bridges and set fire to 237 transport lorries. However, such a success came at a cost as the reprisals by the Germans was savage in the extreme. In fact, so extreme was the German reaction, that the Polish resistance all but ended its work for about 10 months in 1942. SOE in London could not effectively assist the Poles because the distance was simply too great for SOE to overcome.

As in Czechoslovakia, the resistance movement in Poland was fragmented by politics. A government in exile existed in London but a "Union of Polish Patriots" was formed in Moscow in direct competition to the London government. During 1942, Polish communists were dropped into Poland to set up the "Worker's Party". This was to include a resistance movement called the "People's Guard".

The response in London was for Chief-of-Staff General Sikorski to reorganise the resistance movement in Poland that was loyal to the exiled government. It was inevitable that both would clash. Matters were not improved when the Germans found the bodies of 4,500 Polish officers at Katyn Wood. The Russians were held responsible for this and their refusal to allow an enquiry by the International Red Cross only confirmed to non-communists in Poland that Stalin's government was responsible for these murders.

However, the non-communist Polish resistance force had to accept the inevitable - Russia would get to Poland before the Allies. The AK (Armia Krajowa) was led by General Bor-Komorowski after June 1943 (its previous leader, Rowecki was arrested in that month) and he drew up a plan to accommodate Russia'sadvance. His plan was that the AK should continue with its policy of sabotage and intelligence gathering. This intelligence would go to both the Russians and to Britain. In January 1944, the AK actually got hold of parts of a V1 and sent them to London. While Russia and the Allies continued to launch major attacks on the retreating Wehrmacht, the AK used diversionary guerrilla attacks to split the Germans military resources. The final part of Bor-Komorowski's plan was called "Rising". It was for a general uprising throughout Poland led by the AK. The final part of the plan was never fully implemented primarily due to the speed of the Russian advance. However, whenever, the Red Army came across units of the AK movement, it disarmed them. For the Russians, it was of much greater value for the 'People's Guard' to have the upper hand within Poland.

By the spring of 1944, the Polish resistance was thought to number 400,000. The government in exile played a key part in running the non-communist resistance in Poland - far more freedom than any other government in exile within Britain was allowed. The Polish resistance was very well organised and at one time there were over 100 radio stations broadcasting in occupied Poland.

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The Polish Resistance - History Learning Site

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The Polish resistance movement was very active in World War Two. Up until the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Poles had two enemies - Communist Russia and Nazi Germany. Both had attacked Poland in September 1939. Germany's attack on Russia took one of these enemies out of the equation for now.

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This website gives background on the city of Radom, where Irene studied nursing and lived and worked for a few years after the war began. She also took a stand against the Nazis by hiding food under the fence to the Radom ghetto.

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Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team

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"...it seemed to me as if the wagon behind stretched on forever, crowded with people, frightened people, who depended on me to bring them safely home. I could not drop the reins. And there was no one who could take them from me, not even for a brief moment" (191).
Here Irene is pictured with the wagon she used to smuggle the Jews out of Ternopol and into the forest near Janowka.

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This website was created by Jeannie Opdyke Smith as a tribute to her mother's bravery, courage, and kindness.

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My mom's passion was to reach others with the message that "we are all part of one human family" and that "we certainly are our brother's keeper." Nowhere is this message more important than with school age children. Her voice is still being heard!

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Here, Irene explains how she smuggled six people into the forest, and the other six into a Nazi major's house.

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Holocaust Rescuer and Aid Provider Irene Opdyke on Providing Aid

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Irene talks about her dangerous experience helping six of her Jewish friends in hiding. This is a part of the USC Shoah Foundation's Women's History Month Clip series. Irene's testimony is preserved in the Visual History Archive.

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This is timeline of the major events that happened throughout the story.

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Timeline of Event in "In My Hands" by emilyh

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TOUCH this image to discover its story. Image tagging powered by ThingLink

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"I knew it was a drop in the ocean, but I could not do nothing" (105). -Irene on sneaking food under the fence of the Glinice ghetto.

Image Credits:
Jewish United Fund