Shame On Nobel Committee!

Irena Sendler
passed away in 2008 at the age of 98. During WWII, Irena was responsible for controlling tuberculosis in the ghetto of Warsaw and she used the freedom of her appointment to help the Jewish people imprisoned there. Irena worked secretly to smuggle infants and toddlers out of harms way. Using trash cans, toolboxes, burlap sacks and coffins to contain the children, she placed them, nonchalantly, into the back of her truck.

She trained her dog to bark hysterically when the Nazi soldiers questioned her upon departing the ghetto. The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking muffled the children's fearful cries. Irena managed to smuggle to safety, 2500 children, placing them in convents, with sympathizers and in her own home.

Eventually, she was caught by the Gestapo and badly beaten and detained until she was able to bribe a guard. She remained in exhile until the end of the war. Prior to her capture, Irena developed a record of the children's names and family information. Placing them in a glass jar, she buried it under an apple tree in her back yard. After the war, she dug up the jar and worked tirelessly to locate surviving parents with the intention of seeing the families reunited. Sadly, most had been killed. Many of the orphans were placed with relatives while some lived in convents and adoptive families. Throughout the years, Irena was given many thanks from the children who had been saved due to her efforts. Ironically, in her last years spent living in a full care facility, Irena was cared for by a woman who Irena had saved from certain death when she was only 6 months old. She had been smuggled out of the ghetto in the bottom of a toolbox. Irena's dog, barking madly at her knee to distort the baby's cries. In 2008, Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. Al Gore received the honor for his promotion of a slide show on global warming. No doubt, Irena is currently receiving a reward of much higher note than the Nobel Peace Prize. Many thanks, Irena, for your courage, bravery and heart.