Irena Sendler

Saved 2,500 Jewish children during the Holocaust through daring underground operations

Irena Sendler (1910–2008), a Polish social worker, orchestrated one of WWII's most audacious rescue missions. As a member of Żegota (the Polish resistance), she smuggled children out of Warsaw Ghetto using ambulances, sewer pipes, and coffins.

She documented each child's real and assumed identities in jars buried under an apple tree, hoping to reunite families post-war. Despite being tortured by the Gestapo, Sendler never revealed their names.

Her story gained global recognition through books like Irena's Children and the CBS film The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Organizations like Yad Vashem honored her as Righteous Among Nations.

Sendler's legacy exemplifies moral courage in the face of genocide. Her life reminds us that individual actions can counter systemic evil.