Summary

Irena Gut Opdyke’s work in helping the Jews during the holocaust directly saved the lives of at least thirteen Jews while it was unknown how many lives she might have saved indirectly. As an older woman she was recognized by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial for her heroism and was honored as one of the Righteous Among the Nations. In her book “In My Own Hands” Irena tells the story of her life during World War II.

In the introduction “Tears,” Irene writes of a bird that was shot above a wheat field. She indicates what she had actually seen was not a bird in a wheat field, but she doesn’t have the words yet to describe what she had really seen. She pens her concern that if she begins writing the heart of her story...