Irena Sendler Essay

What would you do if you knew you were going to die. What would you do if you knew you were going to die, and nobody would save you. Irena Sendler helped thousands of people not have these questions. Sendler is a hero who showed bravery and selflessness when she saved over 2,500 Jewish children from Nazi concentration camps. Sendler was born in 1910 in a Polish town of Otwock. Sendler was a lonely child growing up, and her dad inspired her to help others. When her father died while helping diseased Jews, just like her father, she would devote her life to saving others. As soon as the Nazi tanks came to her town, Sendler knew she had to do something. A hero is any brave, selfless, and courageous individual who takes initiative to help others

and who does not expect anything in return. This definition truly defines Sendler.
Sendler showed selflessness, a quality of a hero, when she knew that she could die doing this.

According to Life in a Jar she knew that there were serious consequences to helping the children if she got caught. Sendler knew that she was, “risking her own life,” for Jewish children and families. She knew that she would have to put others in front of herself to save the Jews. Sendler also showed that she was also brave. As stated in Life in a Jar, Sendler “took children out in an ambulance, hidden under a stretcher, or in the trolley, concealed in trunks or suitcases.” Sendler did this to hid the Jewish children from getting caught and not allowing them to go to concentration camps. Sometimes Sendler “sedated children in body bags to sneak out the ghetto entrance.” “Some children were taken out through sewer pipes or other secret underground passages; others escaped through the old courthouse that stood on the edge of the ghetto.” Sendler was brave to do this because if she got caught she could have gotten killed, and she wouldn’t have saved any more children. As you can tell by these examples, Irena Sendler should be and is a

hero.
Sendler was very brave when she helped families and children.

According to Life in a Jar, Sendler “made over 3,000 false documents to help Jewish families escape the ghetto,” By doing this, her and her and her colleagues saved many lives. After she did this she decided to join the underground Polish organization. Sendler ran the child division. Sendler talked to Jewish parents about giving up their children. When doing this Sendler could save many more children. The parents has a devastatingly heartbreaking choice to make. They knew that they might not see their kids again, but they also knew that their children had a better chance of living if they went with Sendler. The parents that let their kids go let their children become safe. Sendler and her coworkers “adopted them into the homes of Polish families or hid them in convents and orphanages.” Since the parents were torn from making the decision they, “made sure that each family hiding a child knew he or she must be returned to Jewish relatives after the war.“ This way the parents felt a sense of relief from this decision. Without Sendler, many people wouldn't have been alive. She is certainly a

hero.
Some people may call Sendler ordinary. They might say anyone can save over 2,500 children from dying. They might be correct, however could they do it without getting caught? Sendler saved over 2,000 Jews, and making it out alive. Sendler knew she could die but she did it anyway. Most people don't have the courage to do this. Sendler felt so strong about saving the Jews she has a, “ feeling near relief at her death sentence,” (Life in a Jar). She felt relief because she knew that she did something very good to the world. It is now clear that Sendler is a hero because she saved many lives. She definitely showed the traits of a hero: bravery and courage.
Irena Sendler is, and should be conceited a hero. Sendler was brave and selflessness when she saved children and families from getting killed in World War II. After reading “Life in a Jar”, we all realised that people do extraordinary things, but do not get any recognition. Along myself and many others, we never heard anything about Irena Sendler until we read the story. Sendler saved over 2,500 children and countless families from getting killed during World War II. If you were in her situation, would you do the same?