Died
12 May 2008 (aged 98)
Warsaw, Poland

During WWII, Irena got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive'. She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried, and also she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger children). She also had a dog in the back which she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the childrens'/infants' noises.

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 children/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those children she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted. Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. President Obama won less than one year after becoming President for his work as a community organizer for ACORN and Al Gore won also — for a slide show on Global Warming.

My friend , Jacqui Reed, of the Monreagh Centre , Donegal, asks you to remember Irena..

Ed: Very moving, Ian. Yes, let us certainly remember Irene and all the “noble Gentiles” like her who were friends to the Jewish people in their time of greatest need.