Her Courage to Care for Others Irene Opdyke deserves the medal for the Courage to Care award because she risked her life and those around her by hiding Jews in a cellar underneath a German major’s villa, keeping this a secret for a whole 8 months (which led to their survival), and also becoming the major’s mistress in order to save many more lives. The holocaust was a time of many horrible and horrific moments; it arose out of pure hate for the Jewish people. It lasted from Jan 30, 1933 – May 8, 1945 during WW2; approximately 6 million Jews had died at the end of the Holocaust, with 17 million deceased overall. The word holocaust itself stands for a disaster, or a catastrophe, and that it was for many families, children, teens, adults, seniors,
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Thus, concentration and labor camps were built to work the Jews to their death; many died of starvation, through the gas chambers, by the bullets of SS soldiers, and other horrific methods. “Irene was a teenager when the Nazi attack on Poland changed her life forever. She was separated from her family, escaped twice from incarceration, and captured and raped by Soviet soldiers. Her most difficult predicament was also her noblest: she saved the lives of 16 Polish Jews, hiding some of them literally beneath the noses of the German officers” (http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/Opdyke.htm). Irene Opdyke was born on May 15, 1918, in Kozienice, Poland. By the time that the Germans invaded in 1939, she was a nursing student; Opdyke was captured by German soldiers and was raped and beat by them. Due to this, she spent over a year recovering in a Russian hospital. As she tried to return home, she was again captured by German soldiers who later recruited her to work as a housekeeper at an officers’ compound. Here, in his cellar, she was able to hide the Jews from the harsh reality they were facing in the world outside. She kept her secret for a while, until eventually the mayor found out, where he gave Opdyke an ultimatum: either she slept
Thus, concentration and labor camps were built to work the Jews to their death; many died of starvation, through the gas chambers, by the bullets of SS soldiers, and other horrific methods. “Irene was a teenager when the Nazi attack on Poland changed her life forever. She was separated from her family, escaped twice from incarceration, and captured and raped by Soviet soldiers. Her most difficult predicament was also her noblest: she saved the lives of 16 Polish Jews, hiding some of them literally beneath the noses of the German officers” (http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/Opdyke.htm). Irene Opdyke was born on May 15, 1918, in Kozienice, Poland. By the time that the Germans invaded in 1939, she was a nursing student; Opdyke was captured by German soldiers and was raped and beat by them. Due to this, she spent over a year recovering in a Russian hospital. As she tried to return home, she was again captured by German soldiers who later recruited her to work as a housekeeper at an officers’ compound. Here, in his cellar, she was able to hide the Jews from the harsh reality they were facing in the world outside. She kept her secret for a while, until eventually the mayor found out, where he gave Opdyke an ultimatum: either she slept