Opdyke, Irene (1918–2003)
Opdyke, Irene (1918–2003)
Polish hero. Born Irene Gut, May 5, 1918, in Kozienice, Poland, into a Catholic family; died May 17, 2003, in Los Angeles, CA; m. William Opdyke (United Nations worker), 1956; children: Jean Smith.
Was a nursing student when Germany invaded Poland (1939); joined a Polish army unit, was captured and forced to work at a munitions factory in Ternopol; at 25, became a housekeeper for a German major there; on hearing about an intended Gestapo sweep through a local Jewish ghetto, smuggled some Jews to a nearby forest and hid 12 Jews in a cellar beneath the major's villa; when he discovered them, became his mistress to protect them further (all the Jews survived); after the war, moved to US (1948), then married an American; became a well-known speaker.
See also memoir, In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer.