Irena Sendler: She Hid Children's Names in Jars Under a Tree

During the war, she wrote children's real names on thin paper.

Then she hid the lists in jars, under an apple tree. Why?

This is the story of Irena Sendler.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Social worker. A social worker is someone whose job is to help people with problems, like poverty or illness.

She also worked as a social worker for the city of Warsaw.

Smuggle. To smuggle someone or something is to move them secretly, past people who want to stop you.

She and her helpers smuggled children out of the ghetto.

Identity. Your identity is who you are: your name, your family and your past.

Each child got a new name and a new identity.

Jar. A jar is a glass container with a lid.

She put the lists in glass jars.

Bury. To bury something is to put it in the ground and cover it.

The jars were buried under an apple tree.

Now, one pattern: so that.

It explains the purpose of an action: why someone does it.

After so that, we often use can or could.

She hid names so that families could find them.

Ready? Let's begin.

Irena Sendler was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1910.

Her father was a doctor who helped poor families.

He taught her that when someone is drowning, you jump in and help.

He died in 1917, after catching a disease from the sick people he helped.

At university, she protested when Jewish students had to sit on separate benches.

She also worked as a social worker for the city of Warsaw.

During World War Two, the Nazis forced the Jews of Warsaw into a closed area behind high walls: the ghetto.

There was little food, and diseases spread quickly.

Irena had a special pass to fight diseases, so that she could go into the ghetto.

She brought food and medicine.

But soon she understood: the children had to get out.

It was very dangerous.

She and her helpers smuggled children out of the ghetto.

Some left in ambulances, some in boxes, and one baby in a toolbox.

Others walked out through a courthouse or through tunnels under the city.

Outside, Polish families and convents hid them.

Each child got a new name and a new identity.

But Irena wanted them to know, one day, who they really were.

So she wrote their real names on thin paper.

She put the lists in glass jars.

She hid names so that families could find them after the war.

The jars were buried under an apple tree.

In October 1943, she was arrested.

She did not give any names, and she was sentenced to death.

But her friends paid the guards, and she escaped.

She lived in hiding with a false name and kept on helping.

After the war, the lists went to a Jewish committee so that children could find their families.

Sadly, many parents did not survive.

Nobody knows exactly how many children she and her helpers rescued.

Historians say it was hundreds.

For years, few people outside Poland knew her story.

Then, in 1999, students in Kansas wrote a play about her.

She died in 2008, aged 98.

Let's review. She also worked as a social worker for the city of Warsaw.

She and her helpers smuggled children out of the ghetto.

Each child got a new name and a new identity.

She put the lists in glass jars.

The jars were buried under an apple tree.

And remember: she hid names so that families could find them.

Irena Sendler's story teaches us: when someone needs help, you help, even when it is hard.

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