May her memory be for a blessing...

Irena Sendler, Polish heroine, died this week at the age of 98.

From the New York Times article:

Mrs. Sendler once told Ms. Stahl [Stanlee Stahl, executive vice president of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous] that she wanted to write a book about the bravery of Jewish mothers.

“She said,” Ms. Stahl recalled, “ ‘Here I am, a stranger, asking them to place their child in my care. They ask if I can guarantee their safety. I have to answer no. Sometimes they would give me their child. Other times they would say come back. I would come back a few days later and the family had already been deported.’ ”

This comment strikes me as such a powerful statement about those who helped during the war. Most of them didn't consider themselves to be heroes, they were doing what they felt was right. Mrs. Sendler was among them. To think that she, who was putting her life in danger to help Jewish families, thought that the mothers were the brave ones.

They were all so brave.

As each of these survivors dies, the world loses a piece of history.
Each of them is a witness, and we need to remember for them and for our children.

May her memory be for a blessing.