[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 130 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING A GENUINE HEROINE, IRENA SENDLER, WHO RISKED HER LIFE FOR 
                               THOUSANDS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 1, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today because every so often, an 
everyday person of not-so-everyday valor risks personal injury and 
livelihood--to little fanfare--for the good of humanity. Today, we 
provide that deserved fanfare to one of those unsung heroes, Irena 
Sendler, a woman of such rock-steady courage that she fearlessly saved 
lives in the face of Nazi opposition. The protection of even one life 
is immeasurably valuable, but Ms. Sendler rescued over 2,500 of them, 
mostly Jewish children languishing in Poland's Warsaw ghetto during the 
Holocaust. Ms. Sendler died this past May at 98, but that giving spirit 
remains a shining exemplar of what humanity can accomplish, of what we 
all aspire to emulate.
  Such selflessness is not easy. She was arrested, tortured, and 
sentenced to death by the Gestapo for her heroic acts, ferrying 
children from run-down ghettos that had left them vulnerable to 
disease, execution, and deportation to concentration camps. She escaped 
from prison and continued to do her good--and remarkably dangerous--
works. These are the glowing stories that, buried in the overwhelmingly 
horrific and dark period in history that was the Holocaust, remind us 
that although there can be unspeakable evil, we are always capable of 
combating it with good.
  Her death is a loss of a compassionate and awe-inspiring human being 
for this world, but her story is immortal. May it continue to warm our 
hearts and edify our lives.