Irene Gut Opdyke

Irena Gut was born into a Catholic family, in Kozienice, Poland, the same year as the formation of the Second Polish Republic; she was one of five daughters. The family moved to Radom, where she enrolled at the nursing school before the Nazi-Soviet invasion of 1939. While she was hiding during the invasion, Russian soldiers discovered her and she was beaten and raped.{{sfn|Atwood|2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/36/mode/2up 36]}} Originally forced to work in a munitions factory during the German occupation, Gut was hired by Wehrmacht Major {{Ill|Eduard Rügemer|lt=|de|Eduard Rügemer}} to work in a kitchen of a hotel that frequently served Nazi officials when he learned she was fluent in German.{{sfn|Atwood|2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/36/mode/2up 36]}} It was during this period that Gut witnessed a German soldier, in the ghetto near the hotel, rip an infant from its mother's arms and throw the baby head-first onto the ground, presumably killing the child.{{sfn|Atwood|2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/36/mode/2up 37]}} Horrified, she initially wanted to leave her faith but she came to a realization that people have a choice between doing good or evil and determined that she would help the Jews when the opportunity arose.{{sfn|Atwood|2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/36/mode/2up 37]}} Knowing she risked her life, Gut secretly took food from the hotel and delivered it to the Tarnopol Ghetto.{{Cite web |first=Joyce |last=Jensen |url=https://www.raoulwallenberg.net/saviors/others/her-hands/ |title=In Her Hands by Irene Opdyke |website=International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation |access-date=28 March 2024}}{{sfn|Atwood|2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/36/mode/2up 37]}}

Gut smuggled Jews out of the ghetto into the surrounding forest and delivered food for them there. Meanwhile, Rügemer asked Gut to work as a housekeeper in his requisitioned villa. She hid 12 Jews in the cellar.{{sfn|Atwood|2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/38/mode/2up 39]}} They would come out and help her clean the house when he was not around. Rügemer found out about the Jews she was hiding. At risk to all their lives, Rügemer kept Gut's secret, on the condition that she became his mistress.{{cite book |last1=Opdyke |first1=Irene Gut |last2=Armstrong |first2=Jennifer |title=In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer |url=https://archive.org/details/inmyhands00iren |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Anchor Books, a division of Random House |date=April 2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/inmyhands00iren/page/190 190] |isbn=9780385720328}} Rügemer fled with the Germans in 1944 ahead of the Russian advance. Gut and several Jews fled west from Soviet occupied Poland to Allied-occupied Germany. She was put in a Displaced Persons camp, where she met William Opdyke, a United Nations worker from New York City. She emigrated to the United States and married Opdyke shortly thereafter in 1956.{{Cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nazi-officers-mistress-risked-her-life-to-save-jews-20030530-gdgujd.html |title=Nazi officer's mistress risked her life to save Jews |date=30 May 2003 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |via=The Telegraph}} They had a daughter together. Opdyke died in 1993. Gut died in 2003 after complications from hepatitis.{{cite news |last=Anton |first=Mike |title=Irene Opdyke, 85; Hid Jews in Poland During the Holocaust |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-may-21-me-opdyke21-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=21 May 2003}}

After years of silence regarding her wartime experience, in 1975 Opdyke was convinced to speak after hearing a neo-Nazi claim that the Holocaust never occurred.{{sfn|Atwood|2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/40/mode/2up 41]}} Opdyke began a public speaking career which culminated in her memoir In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer.{{sfn|Atwood|2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/40/mode/2up 41]}} In 1982, she was recognized and honored by Yad Vashem as one of the Polish Righteous Among the Nations.{{cite web |title=Opdyke, Irene |url=https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/opdyke-irene/ |website=The Zekelman Holocaust Center |access-date=28 March 2024}} In 2012, Irene Gut Opdyke was recognized and honored by Yad Vashem as one of the German Righteous Among the Nations.{{cite web |title=Gut Opdyke Irena |url=https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/righteous/4015157 |website=Yad Vashem |access-date=28 March 2024 |language=en}}

On 9 June 1995, Opdyke was honored with a papal blessing from Pope John Paul II at a joint service of Jews and Catholics held at Shir Ha-Ma'alot synagogue in Irvine, California, along with an invitation from Pope John Paul II for her to have an audience with him. The papal blessing and audience with the Pope had been obtained for her by congregant Alan Boinus with the help of Monsignor Joseph Karp of the John Paul II Polish Center Catholic church in Yorba Linda, California. The papal blessing was the first recognition by the Catholic Church of her efforts during the Holocaust. Opdyke said, "This is the greatest gift I can receive for whatever I did in my life."{{Cite news |title=Pope recognizes Yorba Linda woman's WWII sacrifice |first=Lori |last=Haycox |newspaper=The Orange County Register |date=10 June 1995 |id={{ProQuest|272859710}}}}

In July 1997, Opdyke traveled to Israel with her manager, Alan Boinus, and his wife, publicist Rosalie Boinus, for a television story arranged by the Boinuses for ABC Primetime Live, which aired on 10 June 1998 and re-united Opdyke with Hermann Morks, one of the twelve Jews whose lives she saved.{{Cite web |url=https://www.achuka.co.uk/special/opdyke.htm |title=Irene Gut Opdyke interview |website=ACHUKA}}{{Cite episode |title=Irene Gut Opdyke- Polish Rescuer & Hero |episode-link= |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn2g6cNcbPo |access-date=28 March 2024 |series=Primetime Live |series-link=Primetime (American TV program) |network=ABC |date=10 June 1998 |via=YouTube |language=en}}

On the trip, Alan Boinus arranged for private meetings with Opdyke at the Knesset with former President and Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Peres and Speaker of the Knesset Dan Tichon. Boinus also arranged for other meetings in Israel for Opdyke with Mordecai Paldiel, Director of the Department of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem, and with Holocaust survivor Roman Haller: Roman was the baby Opdyke saved during the war by convincing his parents, Ida and Lazar Haller—two of the 12 Jews that Gut had hidden in Rügemer's cellar—that Ida should carry the child to term after she became pregnant while hiding in the cellar. After the war, when a returning Rügemer was rejected by his wife and children in Nuremberg for being party to saving Jews, the Hallers took him into their own home in Munich.{{cite news |last1=Schapiro |first1=Rich |title=A Nazi officer's housekeeper hid 12 Jews in the basement. All of them made it out alive. |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/hero-holocaust-polish-housekeeper-saved-12-jews-rcna12833 |work=NBC News |date=28 January 2022 |language=en}} Rügemer became {{lang|yi|Zeide}} ('grandfather') to Roman Haller. Haller went on to serve as director of the German office of the Claims Conference, which represents world Jewry in negotiating restitution for the victims of Nazi persecution.{{cite news |last=Snyder |first=Donald |title=Roman Haller and his zeide: How a Jewish couple took in the Wehrmacht officer who hid them |url=https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Roman-Haller-and-his-zeide |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=3 September 2009}}

Opdyke's memoir, In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer,{{sfn|Opdyke|Armstrong|1999}} was arranged by her then-manager Alan Boinus and published in 1999 through Random House, with co-author Jennifer Armstrong. Alan Boinus and his wife, Rosalie Boinus, among others, are thanked by Opdyke in the acknowledgements.{{multiref2 |1={{cite web |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/read/inmyhands/opdyke.html |title=Irene Gut Opdyke |website=Vintage Reading Group Center |publisher=Random House |access-date=7 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122807/http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/read/inmyhands/opdyke.html |archive-date=29 September 2007 |url-status=dead}} |2={{Cite web |first=Jennifer |last=Armstrong |url=http://www.jennifer-armstrong.com/harder_books.htm |website=Jennifer Armstrong's Books |title=Harder Books |access-date=7 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701142701/http://www.jennifer-armstrong.com/harder_books.htm |archive-date=1 July 2007 |url-status=dead}}}}

The Irene Gut Opdyke Holocaust Rescuer Foundation was founded in 1997 by Alan and Rosalie Boinus in honor of Opdyke to offer awards, grants, and scholarships to young people inspired by the heroic acts of Irene Gut Opdyke when she was young, so they may likewise stand up to racism, bigotry, and hate.{{cite news |first=Marcida |last=Dodson |url=https://articles.latimes.com/1998/jun/09/local/me-58065/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928032143/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jun/09/local/me-58065/2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 September 2016 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=9 June 1998 |title=Holocaust Rescuer Says She Was 'Predestined'}} It has since been disbanded.

A play based on the book In My Hands, Irena's Vow, opened on Broadway on 29 March 2009 to mixed reviews.{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1889584,00.html |title=What's Wrong with this Spring's Broadway Plays |first=Richard |last=Zoglin |magazine=Time |date=6 April 2009 |access-date=2 April 2024}} It was written by Dan Gordon and starred Tovah Feldshuh as Irena Gut. It had earlier premiered off-Broadway at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City. After failing to find an audience, the play closed on 28 June 2009.{{cite web |url=http://irenasvow.com/ |title=Irena's Vow |access-date=18 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723101508/http://irenasvow.com/ |archive-date=23 July 2012}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005013.html?categoryid=1237&cs=1 |title='Irena's Vow' to close on June 28: Broadway play was struggling to find audience |first=Gordon |last=Cox |magazine=Variety |date=16 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704005900/https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005013.html?categoryid=1237&cs=1 |archive-date=4 July 2009}}

Irena's Vow, a film adaptation of the play, premiered in 2023 with Sophie Nélisse in the lead role.{{cite magazine |first=Jeremy |last=Kay |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/sophie-nelisse-dougray-scott-to-star-in-quivers-wartime-drama-irenas-vow-as-westend-launches-sales-exclusive/5170225.article |title=Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott to star in Quiver's wartime drama 'Irena's Vow', as WestEnd launches sales |magazine=Screen Daily |date=9 May 2022}}

In 1998, Opdyke's story was the subject of legal action and cross-complaint when she sought to regain the motion picture rights to her life story, which she had previously assigned in an option agreement. Copyright attorney Carole Handler represented Opdyke and worked with the parties to reach an agreement. The case was dismissed with prejudice.{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Marosi |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-12-me-18656-story.html |title=Holocaust Heroine Is Satisfied With Accord |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=12 April 2000}}

In 2012, Katy Carr, a British songwriter with Polish roots, released a song inspired by Opdyke titled "Mała Little Flower"{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0jo_53y1Jg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/F0jo_53y1Jg |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live |title=Official music video for Mała little Flower by Katy Carr |date=29 December 2012 |work=YouTube |access-date=2 September 2015}}{{cbignore}} on her album Paszport. On 26 September 2012, Trójka Radio in Poland nominated it as a song of the week.{{cite web |url=https://trojka.polskieradio.pl/artykul/690987,katy-carr-mala-little-flower |title=Katy Carr – Mała Little Flower |work=Polskie Radio |access-date=2 September 2015 |date=26 September 2012 |language=pl}}

• {{cite book |last1=Opdyke |first1=Irene Gut |last2=Armstrong |first2=Jennifer |title=In my hands: Memories of a Holocaust rescuer |date=1999 |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |isbn=9780679891819 |edition=1st |author1-mask=With coauthor}}
• {{cite book |last1=Opdyke |first1=Irene Gut |last2=Elliot |first2=Jeffrey M. |title=Into the Flames: Life Story of a Righteous Gentile |date=September 1992 |publisher=Borgo Press |isbn=978-0-89370-475-9 |author1-mask=With coauthor}}

• List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust
• List of Polish Holocaust resisters
• Witold Pilecki, who volunteered to Auschwitz to gather intelligence on the camp from the inside
• Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Atwood|first=Kathryn|title=Women Heroes of World War II: 26 stories of espionage, sabotage, resistance, and rescue |date=2011 |chapter=Irene Gut: 'Only a Young Girl' |url=https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/ |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/womenheroesofwor0000atwo_f6j1/page/34/mode/2up |url-access=registration|location=Chicago|publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=9781556529610 |pages=35–42}}

• [https://californiarevealed.org/do/4ef0f1d8-3cd7-4926-8588-dfc49746deb3 Digitized Speaking Event by Irene Opdyke on California Revealed]
• [https://www.holocaustforgotten.com/opdyke.shtml Irene Gut Opdyke at Forgotten Holocaust]
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/05/21/irene-opdyke/9e0a35af-d6fa-4393-b602-bd7844b46d9b/ Obituary] in The Washington Post, 20 May 2003
• [http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=4015157 Irene Gut Opdyke] – her activity to save Jews' lives during the Holocaust, at Yad Vashem website
• [http://www.achuka.co.uk/special/opdyke.htm Irene Gut Opdyke Interviewed in London], January 2001. achuka.co.uk
• [http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950426/04260042.htm "Rescuer recalls horror of the Holocaust"] by Esther Diskin. The Virginian-Pilot 1995, Landmark Communications. 26 April 1995.
• [https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/29/1054177675341.html "Nazi officer's mistress risked her life to save Jews."] 30 May 2003. The Daily Telegraph. London.

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Category:1918 births

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Category:Female resistance members of World War II

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Category:Polish Righteous Among the Nations