Themes• Anti-Semitism• Survival• Hope• Fear• Courage• Identity

Grades3up HC:978-0-8234-2251-7•$18.95

Holiday House

AbouttheBookIrena Sendler was a diminutive Polish social worker who helped spirit nearly four hundred children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.IrenaSendlerwasayoungCatholicsocialworkerinWarsawwhentheGermansinvadedPolandin1939.RealizingthatthefateoftheJewsintheWarsawGhettowasdeath,SendlerjoinedanundergroundorganizationcalledtheCouncilforAidtoJews.Operatingunderthecodenameof“SisterJolanta,”Irenaarrangedfornearlyfourhundredchildrentobesmuggledoutoftheghetto.Olderchildrenleftthroughthesewersorwith“workbrigades,”andyoungeronesweretakenoutinambulancesandtoolboxes.Theywereallplacedinsafehousesororphanages.Theirnameswerechangedtoprotectthem;butIrenakeptalistoftheirrealidentities,whichshesafelyburiedintwobottlesbeneathanappletree.Thisisherstory.

Educators’ Guide

and the Children of the Warsaw GhettoIrenaSendler

bySusanGoldmanRubinillustratedbyBillFarnsworth

H “A moving tribute to a courageous woman.” —Booklist (starredreview) “Arresting oil paintings pair with vivid prose [in this] haunting and unflinching portrait of human valiance.” —Publishers Weekly (starredreview)

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Anti-Semitism—Askstudentstodiscusshowthe“ghettobenches”attheUniversityofWarsawwereanactofanti-Semitism.Asastudent,IrenasatwithJewsonaghettobenchtodemonstrate“solidarity.”HowdidthisveryactforeshadowherworktosaveJewishchildrenduringtheHolocaust?Notetheillustrationonpages4–5.WhatdistinguishestheJewishstudents?Howarethesesymbolsanactofanti-Semitism?

Survival—IrenaSendlerjoinedtheCouncilforAidtoJewsandwasgivencommandoftheDepartmentofHelpforJewishChildren.Explainhowthisundergroundorganizationcarriedoutitswork.ManyofthechildrenthatSendlerrescuedgrewupnotknowingthattheywereJewish.Whywasthisimportantfortheirsurvival?IrenawasarrestedandherlifewasthreatenedaftertheGestapowasinformedofherundergroundactivities.Discusshowherworkwasmoreimportanttoherthanherownsurvival.

Hope—Irenaisstandingoutsidealighteddoorwayintheillustrationonpage8.Whatisontheothersideofthatdoor?Studyeachillustrationinthebook.Notehowoftenasinglelightisusedinanotherwisedarkandsombersetting.DiscusshowthelightrepresentshopefortheJewishchildren.WhatisthesignificanceofthelightthatshinesonIrena’slistofnamesonpage24?Discusstheillustrationonpages30–31.Notethegreengrassandthehintofspring.Howdoesthissymbolizehope?

Fear—ManyofthepeopleintheJewishghettoinWarsawdiedatTreblinka,aNazideathcamp.HowdidthefearofthedeathcampsgivefamiliesthecouragetohandtheirchildrenovertoZegota,thecodenamefortheCouncilforAidtoJews.Discusshowthecoverartcommunicatesfear.Studytheillustrationsthroughoutthebookanddiscusstheartist’suseofdarkcolors.

Courage—Irenashowedcouragethroughoutherlife.ExplaintheriskandthecourageittookforhertogivefalsedocumentstothechildrenanddefytheordersoftheNazis.DiscussthecourageoftheChristianPoleswhooperatedsafehousesforhiddenJews.IrenaSendlersaidthatshehelpedrescueJewishchildrenbecause“myhearttoldmeto”(p.35).Debatewhethercourageisamatteroftheheart.

Identity—Discussthemeaningoftheillustrationonpages22–23.ExplainthepurposeofSendler’slistofnames,whichshehidintwobottlesandburiedunderanappletree.Asktheclasstodiscusswhyitwasimportantforthechildrentoreconnectwiththeirheritage,eventhoughitwasunlikelythattheycouldeverbereunitedwiththeirfamilies.WhatistheironythatintheendIrenaSendlerhadtochangeherownidentityandliveinsafehousesforawhile?

ThematicConnectionsClassroom Discussion

Pre-ReadingActivity Askstudentstoreadaboutanti-Semitismatthefollowingwebsite:

www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005175.Thenhavethemwriteashortsummarycalled“Whatisanti-Semitism?”

LeadaclassdiscussionaboutwhyitissoimportanttoreadbooksabouttheHolocaustandtoknowaboutpeoplewhoriskedtheirlivestohelptheJews.

Vocabulary/UseofLanguageThevocabularyinthebookisn’tdifficult,butstudentsshouldbeencouragedtojotdownunfamiliarwordsandtrytodefinethembytakingcluesfromthecontext.Suchwordsmayinclude:refugees(p.3),resistance (p.4),brigade (p.10),couriers (p.18),blackmailers (p.21),retaliated(p.25),havens (p.25), livid (p.26),andemigrate(p.35).

CurriculumConnectionsLanguage Arts—OneofthemanyawardsandhonorsthatIrenaSendlerreceivedbeforeherdeathwastheOrderoftheSmile.Findoutwhatthisawardrepresents.Thenwritethetributethatmighthavebeendeliveredtoheronthedaythatshereceivedthisaward.

IrenaSendlerdidn’tseeherselfahero.Shesaid,“Aheroissomeonedoingextraordinarythings.WhatIdidwasnotextraordinary.Itwasanormalthingtodo”(p.37).ShefeltthattheJewishchildrenandtheirmothersweretherealheroes.WritealetterthatPiotrZettingerorElzbietaFicowskamightwritehailingSendlerahero.

Social Studies—Askstudentstolookintheindexofthebookandpickatopicforfurtherresearch.Suchtopicsmayinclude:WarsawGhetto,WarsawUprising,PolishSocialistParty,resistancemovement,Zegota,andsafehouses.Havethemprepareafive-minutepresentationtobedeliveredtosomeonewhoknowsnothingaboutthetopic.Suggestthattheyuseblack-and-whitephotosfromtheInternettoaugmenttheirpresentation.

Askstudentstodefineoral history.WhyisoralhistorysoimportanttounderstandingeventssuchastheHolocaust?InstructstudentstovisittheoralhistorysectionoftheUnitedStatesHolocaustMemorialMuseumatthefollowingwebsite:www.ushmm.org/research/collections/oralhistory/.ThenhavethemwriteareactiontothepersonalstoriesoftheHolocaustsurvivors.Howweretheexperiencesofthesurvivorsdifferent?Howweretheysimilar?HowdidlisteningtothemmakethehorroroftheHolocaustseemmorereal?

Science/Health—ThepoorlivingconditionsintheJewishghettocausedatyphusepidemic.Findoutthesigns,symptoms,andtreatmentoftyphus.WhatotherdiseasesplaguedtheJewishghetto?WhatdidtheGermansthinktheWarsawDiseaseControlDepartmentcoulddoaboutatyphusepidemicwhenthelivingconditionsweresopoor?Discussthetermbiological warfare.MighttheGermanshavebeenguiltyofbiologicalwarfaresincetheycausedthepoorlivingconditions?

Art—Irena’sstorydidn’tbecomeknownuntil1989whentheCommunistregimecollapsedandPolandbecameademocraticrepublic.Designafull-pagetributetoIrenaSendlerthatElzbietaFicowska,PiotrZettinger,TeresaTucholska,andotherchildrensherescuedmighthaveplacedinaWarsawnewspaperonhernamedayin1989.Inplanningthedesign,considersymbolsforpeace,caring,hope,courage,love,sacrifice,andhonor.

Drama—IrenaSendlerdiedattheageof98onMay12,2008.Sheoncesaidthattheworldcouldonlybecomeabetterplaceifwelearnedandpracticed“love,toleranceandhumility.”Askstudentstofindapoemoranexcerptfromaworkoffictionthatrepresentslove,tolerance,orhumilityandreaditaloudinclassasatributetoIrenaSendler.

AbouttheAuthorandIllustratorSusan Goldman RubinistheauthorofFireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeisand theChildren of Terezin,aSydneyTaylorAwardHonorBook,aNationalJewishBookAwardfinalist,andaBooklist TopTenArtBookforYouth.HerotherbooksincludeThe Anne Frank Case: Simon Wiesenthal’s Search for the TruthandThe Flag with Fifty-six Stars: A Gift from the Survivors of Mauthausen,bothillustratedbyBillFarnsworth,aswellasacollaborationwithElaWeissberger,The Cat with the Yellow Star: Coming of Age in Terezin.ShelivesinMalibu,California.FormoreaboutSusan,visitheronlineatwww.susangoldmanrubin.com.

Bill Farnsworth hasillustratednumerousbooksforchildren,includingseveralbySusanGoldmanRubinaswellasA Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children and A Hero for Civil Rights,bothbyDavidA.Adler.Inadditiontohisworkwithchildren’sbooks,Billisafineartistwhohascreatedmanypaintingsformagazines,advertisements,andcommissionedportraitsandlandscapes.HelivesinFlorida.Formoreabouthim,visitwww.billfarnsworth.com.

GuidepreparedbyPatScales,retiredschoollibrarianandindependentconsultant,Greenville,SouthCarolina.

Holiday House425MadisonAvenueNewYork,NY10017

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Web LinksThe Irena Sendler Projectwww.irenasendler.org/default.aspTheStoryoftheLifeinaJarproject

The U.S. Holocaust Museumwww.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?Moduleid=10005188AnarticleabouttheWarsawGhettoUprising

Jewish Virtual Librarywww.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Zegota.htmlAbriefarticleaboutZegota

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