In the dark heart of Nazi-occupied Poland, a young Catholic social worker named Irena Sendler refused to look away from the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto. Granted entry as a public health specialist, Irena utilized her access to build a secret, fiercely dedicated underground resistance network. Together, they executed some of the most daring rescue operations of World War II—smuggling more than 2,500 Jewish infants and children past Nazi checkpoints.
From hiding sedated babies in toolboxes and coffins to guiding older children through the city’s dank, treacherous sewers, Irena’s methods required staggering physical and moral courage. But she went a step further: at immense personal risk, she recorded each child’s real name and true identity on slips of paper, burying them in glass jars under an old apple tree so they could find their families after the war.
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