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Irena Sendler was born as Irena Krzyżanowska on 15 February 1910 in Warsaw to Dr. Stanisław Krzyżanowski, a physician, and his wife, Janina. Her father died in February 1917 from typhus contracted while treating patients whom his colleagues refused to treat in fear of contracting the disease, among them many Jews. After his death, Jewish community leaders offered her mother help in paying for Sendler’s education. Sendler studied Polish literature at Warsaw University. She opposed the ghetto-bench system that existed at some prewar Polish universities and defaced her grade card. As a result of her public protest she was suspended from the University of Warsaw for three years. Irena was an only child, but she had a son and a daughter. Her daughter, Janka,still lives in Warsaw, Poland, and her son Adam passed away in 1999

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As early as 1939, when the Germans invaded Warsaw, Irena began helping Jews by offering them food and shelter. Once the Warsaw Ghetto was formed, she started by saving the orphan children. Irena used her papers as a Polish social worker and papers from one of the workers of the Contagious Disease Department (who was a member of the underground Zegota) to enter the Warsaw Ghetto. Irena was in charge of the Children’s Division of Zegota (a Polish underground group to assist Jewish people). Irena and her helpers made over 3,000 false documents to help Jewish families before she joined Zegota and the children’s division. Irena and her network made sure that each family hiding a child realized the child must be returned to Jewish relatives after the war.

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Irena and the ten who went with her into the ghetto, used many, many methods to smuggle children out. There were five main means of escape:  1 – using an ambulance a child could be taken out hidden under the stretcher. 2 – escape through the courthouse. 3 – a child could be taken out using the sewer pipes or other secret underground passages. 4 – A trolley could carry out children hiding in a sack, in a trunk, a suitcase or something similar. 5 – if a child could pretend to be sick or was actually very ill, it could be legally removed using the ambulance. ****Irena did use a dog on occasion, but very few times out of the many rescues. Also, the number of babies saved was small in relation to the total number of children rescued

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Irena (code name Jolanta) was arrested on October 20, 1943. When arrested she felt almost liberated. She was placed in the notorious Piawiak prison, where she was constantly questioned and tortured. During the questioning she had her legs and feet fractured.The German who interrogated her was young, very stylish and spoke perfect Polish. He wanted the names of the Zegota leaders, their addresses and the names of others involved. Irena fed him the version that she and her collaborators had prepared in the event they were captured. The German held up a folder with information of places, times and persons who had informed on her. She received a death sentence. She was to be shot. Unbeknown to her, Zegota had bribed the German executioner who helped her escape. On the following day the Germans loudly proclaimed her execution. Posters were put up all over the city with the news that she was shot. Irena read the posters about herself.

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During the remaining years of the war, she lived hidden, just like the children she rescued. Irena was the only one who knew where the children were to be found. When the war was finally over, she dug up the bottles she had hidden in the ground with all the childrens information on it. Then began the job of finding the children and trying to find a living parent. Almost all the parents of the children Irena saved, died at the Treblinka death camp.

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The book about Irene's project to save children 

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The book about Irene's project to save children 

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Irene accepting one of her many awards in 2007

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Irene accepting one of her many awards in 2007

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How she was honored even after passing: 

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How she was honored even after passing: 

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There have been several plays about her that have gone all over the world. They are the most famous way to honor her. That's not all there was through. There was a book written about it. Even whole exhibits around the world dedicated to her. There was even movies