Holocaust heroine with ties to Uniontown students nominated for Nobel Prize

Irena Sendler has officially been designated a national hero in Poland. Schools across Germany and Poland are named in her honor. Annual Irena Sendler days are celebrated throughout Europe and the United States.

And on Friday, the 97-year-old Sendler, who currently lives in Warsaw, might possibly earn another distinction. On that day, she will learn if she is a recipient this year of the famed Nobel Peace Prize.

In the face of genocide, Sendler offered hope. As a young Polish Catholic woman, she risked her life to free 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto and almost certain death. And now, more than 60 years later, her story continues to circle the globe inspiring others to see that the power of peace rests in each of our hands, according to Norm Conard, the director of the Irena Sendler Project.

Sendler's conviction is, "You must always oppose evil. It is the only way goodness wins," the statement from Conard said.

In a world still tragically marked by hatred and indifference, Sendler abides in her efforts to show the world that there is a need in each person's heart to protect and shelter the oppressed, the statement said.

Sendler once encouraged a group of young Uniontown students, who discovered her story in 1999, by saying, "You are like farmers. You don't sow seeds of food but seeds of good. Try to make the circle of good that surrounds you grow bigger and bigger."

Raised to believe that one must rescue anyone in need, regardless of nationality or religion, Sendler set about to save the most vulnerable. With courage and ingenuity, she smuggled children past German Nazi guards through sewers in body bags and even hidden inside a carpenter's tool box.

After safely relocating the children, Sendler would write the names and true identities of each child on slips of paper and hide the precious records inside jars which she buried in a nearby garden.

Although she was arrested, endured crippling torture, and nearly executed, she never revealed the location of the jars. After the war, she dug up the jars and began a reunification effort, the statement from Conard said.

Conard is also one of the first two recipients of the annual Irena Sendler Awards established in 2006 to recognize outstanding educators who teach in the spirit of Sendler, whose motto is to "repair the world."

It was in Conard's classroom that a history assignment grew into an international movement which, in Sendler's words, "continues to bring light to the world."

Conard's students also wrote the play "Life in a Jar," which is still performed by current and former students, for a National History Day project. Soon after, Sendler's story earned national and global recognition through appearances on television and hundreds of national newspapers and magazines. Conard is also the director of the Life in a Jar Foundation created in Sendler's honor.

The play has since been performed more than 200 times in the U.S. and across the globe.

Some of Conard's students have also traveled to Poland on a few occasions to visit Sendler and perform the play, most recently in 2005. In February of this year, project members received a visit from a "Today Show" crew, who interviewed students in Los Angeles for a story the news organization produced about the Life in a Jar project.

Among other awards and honors he has received, Conard was chosen this year for induction into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. In addition to directing the Irena Sendler Project, Conard is now leading the efforts of a newly-launched organization in Fort Scott, the Lowell Milken Center, an educational foundation to foster understanding and respect among all people.

The announcement of the Nobel Prize winners will be made on Friday in Oslo, Norway. Sendler is one of about 188 nominees for the distinguished prize, which was first awarded in 1901, Conard said.

While Sendler's chances of winning the award are slim, primarily due to the fact that the award is typically given to a person or people for accomplishments made during the past year, and Sendler's efforts took place more than 60 years ago, Conard said he and his staff are still proud of her nomination.

Should Sendler win the award, Conard said he and other Lowell Milken Center staff will plan a local celebration in her honor.