Q&A :: What Irena Sendler can teach us today
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
27.01.2016 16:42
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Q&A :: What Irena Sendler can teach us today
Irena Sendler is a Polish folk hero. A catholic social worker during world War two, she risked her life to save that of hundreds of (mainly Jewish) children from the clutches of the Nazis.
Irena Sendler, pictured in 2005. Photo: Mariusz Kubik/Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)
She led a long life – in fact she died in 2008 – at the ripe age of 98 in Warsaw. And while she kept a detailed list of the names of the children she had saved, famously in a jar which she hid under an apple tree, many of the people never learnt of their Jewish origins.
She was recognised as a Righteous Among the Nations for her heroic deeds, although her life is little known outside of Poland. Andrzej Wolf, a filmmaker attempted to make amends, by working with Sendler on an intimate documentary celebrating her long and fruitful life. A pre premiere of the film was shown in polish prisons because it teaches many important lessons about how to be a good person.
Roberto Galea's first question to the director was a bit controversial: Why is the life of Irena Sendler overshadowed by the story of someone else who also did a lot to save the lives of Jews: Oskar Schindler.