Irena Sendler, 98, Dies in Warsaw

12 May 2008

Irena Sendler

Irena Sendler, the Polish Polish social worker who rescued 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazis during the Holocaust, died Monday morning in a Warsaw hospital.  Ms. Sendler organized the rescue of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during Nazi Germany's brutal World War II occupation, along with a team of 20 other people.  Together , they saved the children between October 1940 and April 1943, when the Nazis burned the ghetto, shooting the residents or sending them to death camps.  Ms. Sendler was honored by Israel's Yad Vashem memorial for her heroism.  U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe said, "Today we lose one of the most courageous humanitarians of our time; we will continue to honor Ms. Sendler's heroism by never forgetting her generosity of spirit and brave actions."