“Personal Stories” – Premiere of Educational Film About Irena Sendler and Jadwiga Piotrowska

Redakcja / English translation: Andrew Rajcher, 16 February 2022
As part of the “Personal Stories” series, POLIN Museum presents educational films devoted to important figures in Polish-Jewish history and culture. In November, we presented films about Zuzanna Ginczanka and Julian Tuwim, Bolesław Leśmian and Rachel Korn, as well as about Jan and Antonina Żabiński, Righteous Among the Nations. We now announce more productions, including films devoted to the story of Irena Sendler and Jadwiga Piotrowska who, during the German occupation (1939-1945), helped many Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto.

Films from the “Personal Stories” series present the fate, work and activities of both well-known and individuals present in the minds of students, such as Irena Sendler, Julian Tuwim, Bolesław Leśmian, as well as others who are less well-known, such as Jadwiga Piotrowska, Zuzanna Ginczanka, Rachela Korn or the Żabiński couple, whose importance for culture and history is still being discovered. Each episode tells the stories of two heroes, whose biographies are somehow linked.

The premiers of the next (and last) episodes in this series, and the accompanying talks, will be screened on the Facebook page of the POLIN Museum Education Centre and on the POLIN Museum channel on YouTube:

  • 15th February (Tuesday), at 18.00: “Personal Stories – Irena Sendler and Jadwiga Piotrowska”;
  • 16th February (Wednesday), at 18.00: “Personal Stories – Janusz Korczak and Stefania Wilczyńska”;
  • 17th February (Thursday), at 18.00: “Personal Stories – Debora Vogel and Bruno Schulz”.

The “Personal Stories” series is aimed at students in years 7 and 8 at primary and secondary schools. We have prepared a package of new, attractive, educational materials – worksheets and lesson plans.

The films are accompanied by discussions including experts such as Anna Bikont, Marta Ciesielska, Anna Kaszuba-Dębska, Magdalena Kicińska, Prof. Izolda Kiec, Joanna Król-Komła, Dr. Piotr Łopuszański, Dr hab. Alina Molisak, Roberta Szuchta, Dr Karolina Szymaniak and Prof. Tomasz Żukowski. The discussions will be chaired by Beata Jewiarz.

Watch the films and the expert discussions and then download the material to use when working with your students.

View the film and expert discussion about Irena Sendler and Jadwiga Piotrowska [premiers 15/02/2022]

» Read more about the help given to Jews, during the Holocaust, by Irena Sendler and learn more about the story of Jadwiga Piotrowska: “Home has become a ‘Care Centre’ for people leaving the ghetto.”