Polish righteous gentile nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Polish righteous gentile nominated for Nobel Peace Prize By Mike Urbaniak Updated: 14/Jan/2007 15:21

WARSAW (EJP)--- A 96-year old Polish woman who saved more than 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust, has been announced as an official candidate to the Nobel Peace Prize.

Irena Sendler was born in 1910 in the Warsaw suburb of Otwock. Just after the outbreak of WWII she began helping the Jews from the Warsaw ghetto. In 1942 a she became a head of the Children Department of the Council to Aid the Jews established by the Polish Underground Authorities.

As an employee of the Warsaw City Council Social Welfare Department, she had a special pass to the ghetto. On numerous occasions Sendler entered the closed Jewish district with the Star of David on her arm, leaving with Jewish children.

She took these youngsters and, with the fake documents, placed them in Polish families, orphanages or Catholic convents. She made sure she hid all the original certificates of birth certificates and other documents in jars, so after the war all the children could be returned to their Jewish families.

In 1943 she was arrested by the Gestapo, tortured and sentenced to death. During the tortures she didn’t give away any information about the children or the individuals involved in the Council to Aid the Jews.

She was, however, rescued by members of the Council, who bribed the German guards and helped her hide until the end of the war.

Sendler has since been honoured by many Holocaust organisations. In 1965 she was named on of the Righteous Among the Nations by the Jerusalem-based Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem.

And in 2003 she received the highest Polish decoration – the Order of the White Eagle.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, officially support Sendler’s nomination to the Nobel Peace Prize.

The open letter urges the Nobel prize committee “To honor a living person for heroic deeds that are by any measure the very essence of that work which must be not only emulated, but honored, in order to ensure a peaceful future for humankind. Rescuing the most vulnerable of an oppressed minority from the horror of totalitarian mass murder is the quintessence of charity and humanity.”

“She is one of the last heroes from the generation of our parents and our grandparents, who when confronted by the unparalleled evil of twentieth century totalitarianism, revealed great bravery, simple conviction, and the power of human will and intention,” the petition adds.

Irena Sendler for Nobel Peace Prize - support this candidacy!

Irena Sendler, born in 1910, during the World War II was involved in helping the Jews. First, disguised as nurse, she provided medicines, food and money to the people living in the Warsaw Ghetto. Later on she was charge of the Children's Division of Zegota (a Polish underground group to assist Jewish people). Irena Sendler 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.

In the ghetto Irena Sendler contacted many Jewish families and tried to persuade parents to let her help them and smuggle children into the "Aryan side" and then hid them with Polish families. She made lists of the children's real names and put the lists in jars, then buried the jars in a garden, so that someday she could dig up the jars and find the children to tell them of their true identity.

The Nazis captured Irena Sendler, but the Polish underground bribed a guard to release her, and she entered into hiding.

Today Irena Sendler lives in Warsaw, Poland.

Irena Sendler was announced as the 2003 winner of the Jan Karski award for Valor and Courage. She has been honored by international Jewish organizations - in 1965 she accorded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem organization in Jerusalem and in 1991 she was made an honorary citizen of Israel. Irena Sendler was also awarded Poland's highest distinction, the Order of White Eagle in Warsaw Monday Nov. 10, 2003.

Her candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize was consulted with Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Polish Jews Forum fully supports the idea of presenting Irena Sendler with Peace Nobel Prize - join us!

The Norwegian Nobel Committee
Henrik Ibsens gate 51
NO-0255 OSLO
Norway

We, Jewish and non-Jewish citizens of Poland, Israel, United States of America and other countries would like to express our full and enthusiastic support for the candidacy of a true hero, Irena Sendler, for the Nobel Peace Prize.

More than 60 years since the Holocaust, we pause for one last moment, knowing that this may be the very last opportunity for such a distinguished and honorable institution as The Norwegian Nobel Committee to honor a living person for heroic deeds that are by any measure the very essence of that work which must be not only emulated, but honored, in order to ensure a peaceful future for humankind. Rescuing the most vulnerable of an oppressed minority from the horror of totalitarian mass murder is the quintessence of charity and humanity.

In times of terror and lawlessness, Mrs Irena Sendler and others from the underground resistance organization risked and forfeited their lives for the lives of Jewish children. She is one of the last heroes from the generation of our parents and our grandparents, who when confronted by the unparalleled evil of twentieth century totalitarianism, revealed great bravery, simple conviction, and the power of human will and intention.

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And that was heroism indeed.

Translation of German Announcement:

Concerning the Sheltering of Escaping Jews

A reminder - in accordance with paragraph 3 of the decree of October 15, 1941, on the Limitation of Residence in General Government (page 595 of the GG Register) Jews leaving the Jewish Quarter without permission will incur the death penalty.
According to this decree, those knowingly helping these Jews by providing shelter, supplying food, or selling them foodstuffs are also subject to the death penalty.

This is a categorical warning to the non-Jewish population against:

1) Providing shelter to Jews
2) Supplying them with Food
3) Selling them Foodstuffs

Dr. Franke
Town Commander
Czestochowa 9/24/42

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