Life's So Beautiful

8
Nov
Lest We Forget: Irena Sendler

The prize doesn’t always go to the most deserving�

Irena Sendler

On May 12 2008, a 98 year-old Polish lady named Irena Sendler passed away. She was no ordinary lady. During World War II, Irena got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer worker. She had an ‘ulterior motive’ …. She KNEW what the Nazi’s plans were for the Jews. Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the noises made by the kids/infants. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids & infants.

In October 1943, alerted by an informer, Irena was arrested. Irena was taken to the notorious Pawiak prison where she was methodically tortured and beaten until her arms and legs were broken. She never revealed the names of the children that she had smuggled out of the ghetto or of her underground colleagues who had assisted her.

Prior to her arrest, Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in glass jars, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she dug out the jars and tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or were adopted.

Irena Sendler with some of the children that she saved

In 2007 Irene was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize…..she did not win the prize.

And do you know who won the prize?

Give it a guess.

The winner was Al Gore for his work on Global Warming. It led to widespread criticisms that the Nobel Peace Prize was a sham.

64 years later

In �MEMORIAM �- 64 YEARS LATER

More than 60 years have elapsed since the Second World War in Europe ended. This story is in memory of the �six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 �million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests �who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, �starved and humiliated with the German and Russian peoples looking the other �way!

Now, more than ever, with Iraq, Iran and others claiming the Holocaust to be a “myth”, it’s imperative to make sure that the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.

2 com

5
Aug
Homecoming of Laura Ling & Euna Lee

I was taking a break from listing my stamps on eBay when I saw the breaking news on CNN� about the homecoming of Laura Ling and Euna Lee after about 5 months’ detention by the North Korean government. Lee bowed as she walked down the steps of the plane into a private hangar, and Ling raised her fists into the air.

Ling raising her fists into the air as she emerged from the plane.

Oh, it was such a touching moment watching the reunion of Laura and Euna with their families who were waiting at the bottom of the stairs.� Indeed it brought tears to my eyes especially after watching the reunion of Euna Lee with her husband and her 4-year old daughter Hannah. Hannah has not seen her mum since March and you can see how overjoyed Lee was as she tearfully held Hannah tightly to her.

Euna Lee holding tightly to Hannah as her husband held her in his embrace and Laura Ling being kissed and hugged by her husband.

Euna Lee & family in a tight embrace and Laura Ling being hugged by her mum with her husband and sister looking on.

Laura addressed the media with a speech that touched heartstrings and brought tears to many around the world.� She spoke about going to a meeting and when they were taken to the meeting, they saw before them former US President Bill Clinton. They were shocked but at the same time, they knew instantly in their hearts that their nightmare was finally coming to an end.