Irena's Children

The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto

By: Tilar J. Mazzeo

Narrated by: Amanda Carlin

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Widow Clicquot comes an extraordinary and gripping true account of Irena Sendler - the "female Oskar Schindler" - who took staggering risks to save 2,500 children from death and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II.

In 1942 one young social worker, Irena Sendler, was granted access to the Warsaw Ghetto as a public health specialist. While she was there, she began to understand the fate that awaited the Jewish families who were unable to leave. Soon she reached out to the trapped families, going from door to door and asking them to trust her with their young children. She started smuggling children out of the walled district, convincing her friends and neighbors to hide them. Driven to extreme measures, and with the help of a network of local tradesmen, ghetto residents, and her star-crossed lover in the Jewish resistance, Irena ultimately smuggled thousands of children past the Nazis. She made dangerous trips through the city's sewers, hid children in coffins, snuck them under overcoats at checkpoints, and slipped them through secret passages in abandoned buildings.

But Irena did something even more astonishing at immense personal risk: She kept a secret list buried in bottles under an old apple tree in a friend's back garden. On it were the names and true identities of these Jewish children, recorded so their families could find them after the war. She could not know that more than 90 percent of their families would perish.

In Irena's Children, Tilar Mazzeo shares the incredible story of this courageous and brave woman who risked her life to save innocent children from the Holocaust - a truly heroic tale of survival, resilience, and redemption.

©2016 Tilar J. Mazzeo (P)2016 Simon & Schuster

This was such a sad story but so well done.

I am still shocked that people got away with this kind of abuse and murder. it has been years and years, but every time I hear another account I am still shocked.

Unforgettable

True story of people who risked their lives to save others. The narration is excellent.

Gripping story

Gripping, nauseating, depressing, scare-you-out-of-your-wits, keep-you-awake-at-night, break-your-heart, oh, break-your-heart, oh, break-your-heart. Everyone should read this. And Ms Carlin was truly the perfect narrator, smoothly pronouncing hundreds of Polish words/names with ease, with a sweet voice for Irena, and just the right amount differentiation for other characters. In the past year, this is the third book I've read that dealt with Polish Jews in WWII (the other two were fiction). It's been very eye-opening.

Amazing

This book was heartbreaking, heartwarming and very informative. I'd never heard of Irena's story before reading this book, which I found surprising! There's allot more in this book than you would expect, and it does a good job of covering how WWII played out in Warsaw. This book gives credit to the courageous people in Warsaw--but it doesn't skip any of the unpleasantness either. Overall this was a very engaging book that I had a hard time stopping--and big plus, the narrator was fantastic.

Heartwrenching and Heartwarming

Loved this account of life in Poland during the German occupation. It stirs emotions and anger, fear, sadness but also celebration. The bravery of these individuals and the children whom they saved is astonishing.

Humbling

An extraordinary biography of a woman who changed the world, without wanting an ounce of credit.

Chills

I have been researching the haulocast for a while and this has given me more I formation then any documetry ever could. this walks you through the life of a true hero.

Thought provoking

Spent lots of time processing this book. It is sad how we can justify such abuse and misuse of power. Yet hopeful when people rise above and risk it all for others. A thoughtful read.

Noble peace prize

Irena Sendler saves 2500 Jewish children from being killed.

And the year she was nominated for the Noble Peace prize. They gave it to Al Core for his work on global warming.

Sometimes mankind is stupid!!!

Very Good Look into a Very Dark Time

I could not put this "book" down, meaning that I listened to it on my phone virtually without stopping. Great writing, great reader. Heartbreaking look into the horrors of WWII that the world must never be allowed to forget.