How would I fare in a test of mettle?

I just read a book about Ms. Sendler, Irena’s Children, by Tilar J. Mazzeo. Sendler was part of a group that worked to thwart Nazi efforts to persecute Jews. To provide a bit of context, Irena did not appear to be burning with an unfulfilled, lifelong goal to do great things. She was quite intelligent and open to working for change, but Mazzeo does not paint the protagonist as someone who thought she was destined for great things. She led a normal life until the occupation. She had a job; she cared for her ailing mother and, like almost everyone, had her circle of friends.

By 1939 Poland’s general populace was concerned about the threat of a German invasion. Forgive my massive ignorance about WWII, but I thought the Nazi’s goals were mostly about the annihilation of the Jews. Hitler’s plans were much broader than I realized. Yes, I know. My ignorance on the topic is quite sad. Anyway,  the Nazis also believed themselves to be superior to the Polish people, generally. Subsequently,  the Polish Catholics received their share of persecution before the onslaught against Polish Jews began. The primary targets were politicians and priests. I will take a leap and assume those groups were considered most likely to influence the Polish people, and not in a way that would benefit the Nazis. That may have been the case. However, forcing leadership into slave labor served not only to generate fear, as planned, but to breed resistance cells. 

So, the stage is set. Poland is occupied and the residents learned quickly to fear and revile those who dictated their every movement. When the Jews began to lose their privileges to work, to have access to their bank accounts, or to move freely about the city, resistance groups attempted to provide aid to them, too. Understand that the Germans made it a capital crime for a Polish civilian–Catholic or Jewish–to own a weapon. They were at a distinct disadvantage.

 Most of the people in the resistance cells [in this particular narrative] were Polish Catholics, but some were Jews who worked behind the scenes, whenever low visibility tasks were available. Irena’s was not the only group, as hers sometimes worked in concert with others. Jolanta, as she was known outside her close friends, risked her life as she moved in and out of the ghetto where the Jews were, more or less, incarcerated. She had access because of her position as a social worker, at least early on. Later on, access to anyone living outside the ghetto was prohibited, except for the German soldiers. As the occupation progressed, giving aid to a Jew resulted in arrest. By mid-1942, anyone caught even passing a piece of bread to a Jew was shot immediately. 

Irena and her trusted contacts smuggled infants out of the ghetto in the bottom of medical bags and compromised spots in the wall, to name a few. When the resistance wasn’t able to get into the ghetto at all, children were led through the sewers to the “Aryan” side of Warsaw. They were then delivered to convents, hospitals, safe houses or families eager to help. Many of those families raised the children as their own.

Eventually, Irena was arrested and tortured, but was spared when an officer was bribed to release her on the day she was scheduled to be executed. It was after her arrest and escape that she began to store all the children’s histories in scraps of paper in glass jars and buried them. That way the more than 2500 children could someday be reunited with what was left of their families.

There is so much more to Irena’s story. The above is in no way a spoiler, as my writing ability is not up to the task of doing justice to that piece of history. If you’re a reader, you might want to check it out. Literally.