MODERN ATHENAS Episode 22: The Story of Irena Sendler in Warsaw during WWII / Saving Lives of 2,500 Jewish Children

MODERN ATHENAS

Irena’s Children, is the story of Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic woman and Modern Athena. In her early 20s during the time period covered by the book (Irena's Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo), and standing 4’11” tall, Irena was not physically imposing. But anyone that underestimated her was sorely mistaken. It was this young woman’s iron spirit, sense of purpose, and bravery that
helped her to organize dozens of ordinary citizens, across the divides of religion, into foot soldiers for her human network. Between 1940 and 1945, this network saved the lives of 2,500 Jewish children who otherwise would have perished with their parents in the Warsaw ghetto, in the rail cars destined for the Treblinka extermination camp, or in the gas chambers at Treblinka. Listen now as we tell her story.
INDEX
0:00 Intro and Background of the Book
1:52 Warsaw at the Start of World War II
3:38 The German Purges Begin
6:13 The Germans Target the Jews
7:48 Irena’s First Resistance Efforts
10:48 The Ghetto is Created
16:53 The Winter of 1941-1942
18:20 Escaping the Ghetto: Saving the Children
25:08 Escaping the Ghetto: Saving the Families
26:55 Gross-Aktion Warsaw
30:50 Trying to Save the Children: Umschlagplatz and The Ghetto Hospital
36:05 Trying to Save the Children: Dr. Korczak’s Orphanage
38:20 The Money Runs Out
40:45 The Lists of Children Grow
44:00 The Final Liquidation of the Ghetto
49:45 Irena’s Capture
55:00 The Warsaw Uprising
59:16 The Fate of the Lists
1:03:00 Outro and Next Episode
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