Remembering Irena and the Summer of 1942:
Irena Sendler’s love for people, especially children, was always evident when speaking to her.
Irena wrote this in a letter to the Life in a Jar students in December 2003.
“The world is still in a fire of tribal, racial and national wars. Therefore, I wish for everyone that during the coming year – 2004 – to extinguish all conflicts, all flames of war that destroy entire nations, kill thousands of people, also those happenings which harm the most innocent – the children. I wish for everybody in the world, everybody dear to my heart regardless of race, religion and descent, to remember during all their actions, about the dignity of other persons, about their sufferings and needs, to always seek the way to mutual understanding and agreement. As we finish this year, we need to be full of faith and hope that good will prevail at last. – Irena Sendlerowa – Jolanta”
Irena took great care in planning the agenda for our first trip to meet her in Warsaw, Poland. Before we met Irena, we toured the area where the Warsaw Ghetto had been. As we thought of all that we had learned about the Warsaw Ghetto, we were led through this area by a child survivor. Recalling the summer of 1942, she shared some of her memories when we visited the Umschlagplatz Monument on Stawki Street.
We remember that date seventy-eight years ago on July 22, 1942, when the trains for mass deportation started from the Warsaw Ghetto at Umschlagplatz.
Take care and be safe.