Who is Irena Sendler?

Irena Sendler (1910–2008) was a Polish social worker and humanitarian who is credited with rescuing approximately 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust [2, 3].

Working alongside an underground network, she helped smuggle the children to safety during World War II [2, 3]. She was recognized as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem in 1965 [1]. While she performed her life-saving work during the war, she became a widely known public figure later in life, particularly after her story was brought to international attention in 2000 by a group of American high school students [1].