Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project

by Jack Mayer

Book Overview

During World War II, Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker, organized a rescue network of fellow social workers to save 2,500 Jewish children from certain death in the Warsaw ghetto. Incredibly, after the war her heroism, like that of many others, was suppressed by communist Poland and remained virtually unknown for 60 years. Unknown, that is, until three high school girls from an economically depressed, rural school district in southeast Kansas stumbled upon a tantalizing reference to Sendler's rescues, which they fashioned into a history project, a play they called Life in a Jar. Their innocent drama was first seen in Kansas, then the Midwest, then New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, and finally Poland, where they elevated Irena Sendler to a national hero, championing her legacy of tolerance and respect for all people. Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project is a Holocaust history and more. It is the inspirational story of Protestant students from Kansas, each carrying her own painful burden, each called in her own complex way to the history of a Catholic woman who knocked on Jewish doors in the Warsaw ghetto and, in Sendler's own words, "tried to talk the mothers out of their children." Inspired by Irena Sendler, they are living examples of the power of one person to change the world and models for young people everywhere.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 098411131X
• ISBN13: 9780984111312
• Release Date: March 2011
• Publisher: Long Trail Press
• Length: 396 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Human ingenuity, endurance, and compassion.

This book shows how 1 strong person can make a difference in the world. Irena should be as well known as Anne Frank. The literary skills may be less polished but the narrative is inspiring.

I have read many books about World War II and all the horrors but this book will remain in my memory forever. What a courageous woman Irena was. It's to bad that it took so many years for her story to be told. She was truly a saint on this earth. The high school girls from Kansas are to be honored for the work they did to bring this story to light. I cannot praise this book enough.