The Creators of the Polish-Israeli Project Commemorating Irena Sendlerowa Invited to the Presidential Palace

Polish and Israeli students (including the authors of the Righteous blogs published by the MHPJ), the Chief Rabbi of Poland and the Ambassador of Israel participated in the meeting.

The project, aimed at recalling the memory of Poles saving Jews during the war was initiated by the head of the Israeli Ra'anana Symphonette Orchestra, Mrs. Orit Fogel-Shafran. In the ceremony in the Palace she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for “outstanding merits in the development of Polish-Israeli cultural cooperation and for work toward a better dialogue between Israel and Poland.” The Order was presented by First Lady Maria Kaczyńska.

Two and a half thousand Israeli children participated in the project - it is the number of children that Irena Sendlerowa saved from death by entrusting their care with Polish families. The youth wrote letters to Irena Sendlerowa. The envelopes were stamped with postal stamps featuring the face of the heroine, designed for the occasion by the renowned artist, Rafał Olbiński.

Selected letters were enclosed in jars similar to the ones Sendlerowa used to hide scraps of paper with the names of the children she saved and buried in the garden of the house at ul. Lekarska in Warsaw. The jars will be presented to outstanding personalities in Poland and Israel.