death_date death_place religion birth_place image_size name parents birth_date image article_title birth_name occupation
12 may 2008 -lrb- aged 98 -rrb- warsaw , poland roman catholic otwock , poland 240px irena sendler stanisław krzyżanowski janina krzyżanowska 15 february 1910 irena sendlerowa 1942.jpg irena sendler
 irena krzyżanowska social worker , humanitarian
irena sendler

irena sendler -lrb- `` née '' `` krzyżanowska '' -rrb- , also referred to as `` irena sendlerowa '' in poland , `` nom de guerre '' `` jolanta '' -lrb- 15 february 1910 -- 12 may 2008 -rrb- , was a polish nurse and social worker who served in the polish underground in german-occupied warsaw during world war ii , and was head of the children 's section of Żegota , the polish council to aid jews -lrb- -rrb- , which was active from 1942 to 1945 .
assisted by some two dozen other Żegota members , sendler smuggled approximately 2,500 jewish children out of the warsaw ghetto and then provided them with false identity documents and shelter outside the ghetto , saving those children from the holocaust .
with the exception of diplomats who issued visas to help jews flee nazi-occupied europe , sendler saved more jews than any other individual during the holocaust .
the german occupiers eventually discovered her activities and she was arrested by the gestapo , tortured , and sentenced to death , but she managed to evade execution and survive the war .
in 1965 , sendler was recognised by the state of israel as righteous among the nations .
late in life she was awarded the order of the white eagle , poland 's highest honor , for her wartime humanitarian efforts .
