During the German occupation of Warsaw, Irena Sendler utilized her position within the municipal Department of Social Welfare to organize a clandestine network. Operating under the alias Jolanta, she coordinated the extraction of Jewish children from the ghetto, securing false documentation and safe placements in convents, orphanages, and private homes to shield them from the Holocaust.
Early Career and Social Activism
Born in 1910 in Warsaw, Sendler studied law and Polish literature at the University of Warsaw. Throughout the 1930s, she engaged in social work, focusing on the needs of impoverished families and unmarried mothers. Her professional life was shaped by her employment within the municipal social welfare system, where she gained experience in field operations. Before the war, she was associated with the Free Polish University and participated in various social welfare initiatives.
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Following the German invasion, Sendler exploited her access to the Warsaw Ghetto, initially under the guise of conducting sanitary inspections to check for typhus. As the head of the children's section of Żegota, the Polish Council to Aid Jews, she facilitated the rescue of numerous children. Her work relied on a network of volunteers who provided essential supplies and forged identity documents to assist those trapped within the ghetto walls.
Arrest and Post-War Life
In October 1943, the Gestapo arrested Sendler due to her underground affiliations. Although she was subjected to imprisonment and torture, she withheld the identities and locations of the children she had rescued. Sentenced to death, she escaped after Żegota operatives bribed officials to secure her release. Following the war, she continued her career in social activism and government within communist Poland until her death in Warsaw in 2008.
Fast facts
- Born: 1910, Warsaw
- Died: 2008, Warsaw
- Education: University of Warsaw
- Key Role: Head of the children's section of Żegota
- Recognition: Righteous Among the Nations (1965)
- Highest Honor: Order of the White Eagle (2003)
- Burial Site: Powązki Cemetery
Questions readers ask
What was Sendler's role in the Polish Underground?
She served as the head of the children's section of Żegota, a clandestine organization dedicated to saving Jews in German-occupied Poland.
Did Sendler survive her arrest by the Gestapo?
Yes, although she was sentenced to death, she managed to escape after members of the resistance bribed German officials.
Achievements
- Righteous Among the Nations — 1965
- Order of the White Eagle — 2003
- Commander with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta — 2001
- Commander of the Order of Polonia Restituta — 1996
- Order of the Smile — 2007
- Worked as social worker, clinical nurse specialist and social activist
- Educated at University of Warsaw
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