Obituaries from page C49

Holocaust Hero

I

rena Sendlerowa, a Polish resistance
hero honored by Yad Vashem for
rescuing 2,500 Jewish children from
the Warsaw Ghetto, died May 12, 2008, in
Warsaw.
"Many of us knew and loved Irena and
visited her often in Warsaw," said Rene
Lichtman of West Bloomfield, vice presi-
dent of the World Federation of Jewish
Child Survivors.
"We child survivors all over the world,
many of us who were rescued by Irena
Sendlerowa, mourn her passing. She
remains for us a model of moral courage."
Irena's father was a doctor who caught
typhus and died in the epidemic of 1917
while caring for poor Jewish people in
Otwock, Poland.
During World War II, Irena was in charge
of the Children's Division of Zegota (a Polish
underground group to assist Jewish people).
She and her helpers had made over 3,000
false documents to help Jewish families,

before she joined Zegota and the children's
division. As early as 1939, when the
Germans invaded Warsaw, Irena began help-
ing Jews by offering them food and shelter.
When the Warsaw Ghetto was erected in
1940, Irena used her papers as a Polish social
worker to enter the ghetto. She and her 10
helpers used many methods to smuggle
children out, including escaping through the
courthouse or sewer pipes or hiding them in
an ambulance or in a sack on a trolley.
Irena was arrested on Oct. 20, 1943, and
placed in the notorious Piawiak prison
where she was tortured. Zegota bribed
her German executioner who helped her
escape. 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.
"There were two identical lists in two
bottles," Irena related. As more children
were saved the bottles were dug up and
new names added to the list."

(rena Sendlerowa, left, greeting Margarita Turkow, one of the children she saved
from the Holocaust.

The Life in a Jar project was started in
1999 by four Kansan students inspired
by a 1994 U.S. News and World Report
article on "Other Schindlers." When the
students visited Poland in 2001, Irena's
story became known to the world. At last
count, more than 80,000 Web sites on the
Internet mention Irena. The students and
their teacher gathered more than 3,500
pages of material and research on the life
of Irena and work of Zegota.
Irena Sendlerowa was announced as the

2003 winner of the Jan Karski award for Valor
and Courage. She was nominated by the "Life
in a Jar" students and teacher, and Stefanie
Seltzer, President of the World Federation
of Jewish Survivors of the Holocaust.
In one of Irena's first letters to the stu-
dents, she wrote, "My emotion is being
shadowed by the fact that no one from the
circle of my faithful coworkers, who con-
stantly risked their lives, could live long
enough to enjoy all the honors that now
are falling upon me."

Making a Lasting Memory.

At The Ira Kaufman Chapel,
we help your family with the
final tribute of those you love

SIXTH ANNUAL WALK OF AGES

Sponsored by Auxiliary for
Jewish Home & Aging Services
9 am, Sun, May 18
Eugene & Marcia Applebaum
Jewish Community Campus,
6710 W. Maple Road
W. Bloomfield

Honorary Chairpersons:
Florine Mark,
President & CEO Weight
Watchers; and
Evelyn Orbach, JET Theater.
Grand Marshal Emeritus is
Danny Raskin.

3K/5K Walk benefits older adults
living at Fleischman Residence/
Blumberg Plaza and others we
serve in community.

Pm-registration fee includes t-shirt.
Individual: $18. Family: $36.
Team Spirit: for fees, contact
Randi Simko,
248.661.2999, ext. 317.
Walk - rain or shine.

9 am - Registration
9:30 am - Warm Up. 10 am - Walk
Grand Marshal: Dick Purtan
and Purtan's People from WOMC.

For information, call 248.661.2969,
or visit www.auxiliaryjhas.org

THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL

Bringing Together Family, Faith & Community
18325 %%est Nine Mile Road, Southfield. MI 48075

'48 569.0020 • fax 248 569.2502 •msvdrakaufman.com

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