May 24, 2008
Facing adversity, betrayal, even instant death, some chose to follow their conscience, simply because they know it is right. To turn down an opportunity to help would have been to turn off one of the most basic human instincts — to sympathize with the sufferer. And that would have been a kind of death, slower, but surer, and far graver than instant death. So Irena Sendler followed her conscience. Rebelliousness was in her genes, too. During the Nazi occupation of Poland, Jews were herded into a giant camp. They faced starvation and squalor, ideal conditions for typhus, which also would have affected the Germans. A physician’s daughter, the Nazis let her and colleagues in the camp to distribute medicines and vaccines. She orchestrated the escape of many children. Getting caught would have meant instant death. In 2003, many years later, Poland awarded her the nation’s highest honor, the order of the White Eagle. She probably didn’t care. She did what she thought was right. She knew the risk, but she probably saw nothing extraordinary in it. She died on May 12, at age 98.
