Students from rural Kansas, discover a Catholic woman, who saved Jewish children. Few had heard of Irena Sendlerowa in 1999, now after 225 presentations of Life in a Jar, a web site with huge usage and world-wide media attention, Irena is known to the world. How did this beautiful story develop? Read below for the answers.
In the fall of 1999,
Mr. Conard encouraged four students to work on a year long
National History Day project which would among other things;
extend the boundaries of the classroom to families in the community,
contribute to history learning, teach respect and tolerance,
and meet our classroom motto, “He who changes one person,
changes the world entire”.
Three
ninth grade girls, Megan Stewart, Elizabeth Cambers, and Jessica Shelton, and
an eleventh grade girl, Sabrina Coons, accepted the challenge
and decided to enter their project in the National History Day
program. Mr. Conard showed them a short clipping from a March
1994 issue of News and World Report, which said, 'Irena Sendler
saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942-43'. He
told the girls the article might be a typographical error, since
he had not heard of this woman or story. The students began
their research and looked for primary and secondary sources
throughout the year.
They found that Irena
Sendler, as a non-Jewish social worker, had gone into the Warsaw
Ghetto, talked Jewish parents and grandparents out of their
children, rightly saying that all were going to die in the Ghetto
or in death camps, taking the children past the Nazi guards
(in body bags, saying they were ill, or using one of the many
means of escape from the Ghetto-the old courthouse for example),
and then adopting them into the homes of Polish families or
hiding them in convents and orphanages. She made lists of the
children's real names and put the lists in jars, then buried
the jars in a garden, so that someday she could dig up the jars
and find the children to tell them of their real identify.
The
Nazi's captured her and she was beaten severely, but the Polish
underground bribed a guard to release her, and she entered into
hiding. The students wrote a performance (Life in a Jar) in
which they portrayed the life of Irena Sendler. They have performed
this program for numerous clubs and civic groups in the community,
around the state of Kansas, all over the U.S. and in Europe
(225 presentations as of November 2007). The community of Uniontown
has little diversity and no Jewish students in the school district.
The community was inspired by the project and sponsored an Irena
Sendler Day. The students began to search for the final resting
place of Irena and discovered she was still alive and living
in Warsaw, Poland. Irena's story was unknown world-wide, even though she has received esteemed recognition from Yad Vashem in the 1960's and support from the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous in New York City. Forty-five years of communism had buried her story, even in her own country.
From
that time on they would take a jar to every performance and
collect fund for Irena and other Polish rescuers. (They call
their performance, "Life in a Jar") The significance
of this project really started to grow with many numerous contacts.
These contacts assisted the girls in sending the funds to Poland
for the care of Irena and of other rescuers. The girls wrote
Irena and she wrote and continues to write deeply meaningful
letters to them, with such comments as, "my emotion is being shadowed by the fact that my co-workers have all passed on, and these honors fall to me. I can't find words to thank you, for my own country and the world to know of the bravery of rescuers. Before the day you had written 'Life in a Jar', the world did not know our story, your performance
and work is continuing the effort I started over fifty years
ago, you are my dearly beloved girls."
They
discovered a Polish student, Anna Karasinska, at a local college
and she began to translate for them. They made a collection
of the letters and have shared these documents with universities,
historical societies, and the Chicago and New York City Jewish
Foundations for the Righteous. Their cause for Irena Sendler
became a national cause; they had rediscovered this courageous
woman. The girls appeared on C-SPAN, National Public Radio,
CBS, CNN and in numerous newspaper articles, and magazine articles,
such Ladies Home Journal. They were invited to perform
in Washington, D.C. and before a Jewish foundation in New York
City. They have become knowledgeable on subjects such as the
Holocaust, World War II, and the Polish Underground. At least
five colleges have been using their letters from Irena and their
project information in their curriculum.
Great
emotion pours out of the audience during their presentation.
They have literally taken our class motto and brought it to
life. They regularly write on their homework papers such notes
as, "I'm changing the world" and "Irena's story
must be told". The three girls had all experienced great
emotional situations in life, as had later members of the project.
Megan's (Megan portrays Irena) mother was forty and was seriously ill with cancer, she passed away in June of this year. Sabrina's mother also passed on during the years of the project.
The four students continued to dream of visiting Warsaw, interviewing
Irena, surviving children, and others connected to this story.
In January of 2001 they performed (and added a fourth member)
before a large school district in a city about 100 miles from
our school. A Jewish educator and businessman saw the performance
and asked to have lunch with us that day. He told the girls
he would raise the money and send them to Warsaw, if they would
go that spring (Irena was 91 and in poor health) and bring back
her story. The man raised the money in twenty-four hours.
On May 22, 2001,
Mr. Conard traveled with four students, several parents (Bill
and Phyllis Cambers, Debra Stewart and Bonie George), plus
his wife Karen, to Warsaw, Poland. They spent time with Irena
Sendler and then extended the boundaries of the classroom to
the world. The Polish organization for the Children of the Holocaust
arranged a meeting between the rescuers and the children saved,
this was the first such meeting in many years. They also met
a famous Polish poet who was saved by Irena, and an author of
a well known memoir of the Holocaust who called the students
rescuers of the rescuer; The Polish press made this story
international news. Irena's story was finally reaching others.
The students were called "rescuer's, rescuers of Irena's
story." by one of the children Irena saved.
The
group met Elzbieta Ficowska and heard her beautiful story of
being rescued by Irena at the age of 5 months, carried out in
a carpenter's box. A great circle of Polish friends have aided
the project in many ways.
In
2002 the founders of the project and new students traveled to
Poland with Mr. Conard. They interviewed 24 people connected
to Irena and her story, plus visited with Irena on several occasions.
They also visited Treblinka and retraced Irena's steps in the
Warsaw Ghetto. The story of Irena Sendler continues to expand,
continues to inspire. Irena had made false documents for people
in the Warsaw area from 1939 to 1942, helping save many, BEFORE
she joined the underground Zegota and started saving children.
In fact, Irena's life has been one of standing up for others.
Her father was an inspiration for serving the world. Irena wants
us to mention that ten others were under her guidance in saving
children from the Ghetto, and a number of others were helping
outside the Ghetto.
With
this project the students (twelve are now working on the project-see
the Sendler family page--including Travis Stewart, and Jaime Walker, who is now portraying Mrs. Rosner)
are extending the classroom into the world community in many
ways, such as; publishing the interviews, performing before
larger audiences, sharing letters of Irena with students and
educators, (copies have been requested and sent to over 250
schools) and interviews with local and national press. The students
have been contacted by many across the country about a possible
book or screenplay. This project has created ongoing interactive
communication with families in our community and communities
across the country. This web site can also reach Mr. Conard
and the students.
Many
parents are involved in the project. A lady in the community
has organized an Irena Sendler day, and another has organized
an Irena Sendler week. The students continue to perform in front
of local churches, civic groups and clubs. Life in a Jar has
been presented in a number of states and on two summer tours.
In November of 2004 and February of 2007, the Milken Family Foundation sponsored
Life in a Jar in a series of presentations in Los Angeles. (Plus produced a DVD of the play-see link at the top of the web site.)
The
Jewish community in Kansas City has reached out in a powerful
way to involve itself with the project. The community as a whole
has adopted the project, and this courageous woman, as a part
of the family. We list the Jacobson's, Krigel's and Isenberg's as families who have assisted in so many ways. Howard and Ro Isenberg established a scholarship fund for Uniontown students who needed help with college.
The
story of Irena Sendler is spreading and spreading. From the Today Show, to CNN, Ladies Home Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and many
television stations and newspapers. They all continue to present numerous
articles about the Kansas kids and the Polish heroine. As child survivor, Renata Zajdman, a close friend of the project, says, "the children of Kansas put Irena's story on the map."
In 2005, the group again traveled to Poland for presentations of Life in a Jar. You may view the 'news section' of this web site for information on that trip. An international Irena Sendler award was started in 2006. The President of Poland is preparing a nomination of Irena for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Irena
will celebrate her 98th birthday in February of 2008, she is still in good health
and continues to inspire many. Her family and many of
her saved children continue to tell her story of courage and
valor.
