Thursday, September 11, 2008


One of my favorite web sites is snopes.com. They explore and research urban legends and myths. I came across a very interesting posting a few weeks ago and would like to share it. I will just give you brief summary and it you want to know more you can do your own research. Recently a 98 year old woman named Irena Sendler died of pneumonia in Warsaw, Poland. She has been referred to as "the female Oskar Schindler" for her daring and ingenuity in saving the lives or more than 2500 Jews (most of them children) in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The story conflicts a little. One says that she was a plumber/sewer specialist and smuggled infants out in the bottom of her tool box. Another version said that she passed herself off as a nurse. Irena Sendler was a candidate for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize but Al Gore won it for is efforts on global warming. Anyway, I was fascinated by the story. If you want to read more go to www.snopes.com/politics/war/sendler.asp or http://www.irenasendler.org/ Somebody needs to write a book. This photo is Irena at age 91.

2 comments:

Bonnie said...

I saw a documentary about the Kansas students who researched her story and wrote a play about it. It really is a remarkable tale.

Jim said...

Alan, thanks for this post and great example of heroism, compassion and sacrifice. It reminds me that I can't use mainstream cinema as my only source of historical information or perspective. It's just a lot easier.