Pages: 35
Genre: Children, Picture Book, Autobiography, Biography, & History
Source: Review copy from Netgalley
Irena Sendler, born to a Polish Catholic family, was raised to respect people of all backgrounds and to help those in need. She became a social worker; and after the German army occupied Poland during World War II, Irena knew she had to help the sick and starving Jews who were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto. She began by smuggling food, clothing, and medicine into the ghetto, then turned to smuggling children out of the ghetto. Using false papers and creative means of escape, and at great personal risk, Irena helped rescue Jewish children and hide them in safe surroundings. Hoping to reunite the children with their families after the war, Irena kept secret lists of the children's identities.
Motivated by conscience and armed with compassion and a belief in human dignity, Irena Sendler confronted an enormous moral challenge and proved to the world that an ordinary person can accomplish deeds of extraordinary courage.
My Thoughts
This was a wonderful story. This is a book I will definitely recommend to my history department at school. It is beautifully and simply written yet the message is so powerful. It is the story of a woman, one of many selfless people, willing to put their own safety on the line to save as many Jewish children as possible from the Warsaw Ghetto. The Holocaust happened so many years ago that our children know very little about it. This is one way to start an inquiry based lesson on the Holocaust. This is an excellent book and one that needs to be on the shelves of all schools.
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