From Bayou Renaissance Man:
A real heroine has just left us. If you want to know what true heroism is, take a few moments to think about her life.
Irena Sendler was a social worker in Warsaw, Poland, when Germany occupied that nation in 1939. Almost immediately the Jews of that city were confined in the infamous Warsaw Ghetto, which existed from 1940-1943. Even before the ghetto was established, Sendler began helping them.
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Irena Sendler died today, May 12th, 2008, at the age of 98.
In My Hands , by Irene Gut Opdyke , tells the story of a young Polish nursing student who helped save the lives of Polish Jews during World War 2. She later immigrated to the US.
Sendler was indeed a hero, but I fear the wrong message is taken from her life.
What I see being the message is that non-violent resistance to great evil is always the way. While Sendler did save a number of Jewish children at the risk of her own life, the larger message is that failure to confront evil when it’s manageable makes for disaster later. There’s always a blood price, nothing comes for free.
Too much complacency leads to a few heroes like Sendler and catastrophe everywhere else. While we should properly celebrate her life and heroism, we should not think that her actions alone are sufficient which I fear too many take away as the lesson.