Irene Gut Opdyke (1918–2003)
Author of In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer
About the Author
Irene Gut Opdyke lives in Yorba Linda, California. (Bowker Author Biography)
Works by Irene Gut Opdyke
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Opdyke, Irene Gut
- Other names
- Gut, Irene
- Birthdate
- 1918-05-05
- Date of death
- 2003-05-17
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- nurse
Holocaust rescuer - Short biography
- Irene Gut was born one of five daughters in a Catholic family in a small village in eastern Poland. She was barely out of her teens when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied her country in World War II. The family had moved to Radom, where she enrolled in classes to become a nurse. She was captured during a roundup of Polish citizens for forced labor by the Germans and sent to work in a munitions factory, where she fell ill. She was then hired to work in the kitchen of a hotel near the Glinice Jewish ghetto in Radom. After witnessing the murder of Jews in 1942, she began to take food from the hotel and smuggle it into the ghetto. Later, at the risk of her own life, she smuggled Jews into the nearby woods and delivered food to them there. In addition, she hid Jews in the basement of her German employer's villa. At the end of the war, she made her way from a displaced persons camp in Russian-occupied Poland to West Germany. There she met William Opdyke, an American worker for the United Nations, and told him her story. After emigrating to the USA, she met Opdyke again by chance in New York City and married him. In 1982, Mrs. Opdyke was recognized by the Israel Holocaust Commission at Yad Vashem as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations." Her autobiography, In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer, was published in 1999. A play based on the book, entitled Irena's Vow, was produced on Broadway in 2009.
- Nationality
- Poland
- Birthplace
- Kozienice, Poland
- Places of residence
- Radom, Poland
New York, New York, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- Poland
Members
Discussions
Holocaust Fiction? - Gentile Rescuer in Name that Book (October 2010)
Reviews
The author of this memoir was a teenager when war broke out in Europe in the 1930s. Although Germany and the Soviet Union both wanted control of Poland, neither country nor their armies had any regard for the Polish people. Irene found herself separated from her family, and she had to grow up too quickly, first at the hands of the Russian army, then at the hands of the German. Irene was working in a hotel that housed German officers when she became aware of its proximity to the Jewish show more ghetto. She was appalled by what she could see and hear from the hotel. She didn't have the ability to help the Jews on a large scale, but the small acts of kindness in her power would make a difference to a few people. She started by leaving food under a hole in the fence. When she realized that the penalty was the same for leaving bits of food as for more daring acts, she did more and more to help as many Jews as she could. She was able to provide employment for several, and then found a place for them to hide when she learned of plans to kill all of the remaining Jews.
I have read quite a few Holocaust memoirs. Suffering is common to all of them, but each story of survival and escape is unique. Opdyke's story is a reminder that life is precious and that family and friends are to be cherished. The audio production is excellent, and it includes introductory comments by the author herself. Opdyke's voice adds an intimacy to the experience, and it serves as a reminder that she was a real person and not a character in a novel. Highly recommended. show less
I have read quite a few Holocaust memoirs. Suffering is common to all of them, but each story of survival and escape is unique. Opdyke's story is a reminder that life is precious and that family and friends are to be cherished. The audio production is excellent, and it includes introductory comments by the author herself. Opdyke's voice adds an intimacy to the experience, and it serves as a reminder that she was a real person and not a character in a novel. Highly recommended. show less
I'm glad that our library puts Young Adult audio books in with the Adult ones or I might have not seen this one. It's awesome and eye opening. I've read other novels and true stories about the Holocaust mostly from the viewpoint of a Jewish person. I think other than "The Hiding Place," this is the only book I've read of someone who hid them and this takes place at the other end of Europe. Very moving and exciting at times. I could hardly wait to drive some time and ended up finishing it in show more my room. show less
In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer, by Irene Gut Opdyke
"In My Hands" starts with the author writing to the reader that if she tried to tell you what really happened during the war, told you everything at once, you wouldn't understand it. She includes an image that you won't comprehend until later in the book, the image of a bird falling, a bird that is not a bird. And as you come to understand what the bird really is, your heart will break, and you will know just what Irene means. show more
Born in 1922, in Poland, Irene had a happy childhood and a normal life. As a young child, she is saved from death by the family dog, and many in her village are convinced this means she has a great and promising life ahead of her. But for a girl in the 1920s, there weren't many adventures available, and drawn to helping people, Irene decided to go to nursing school.
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Irene's school was on the border, and she was immediately thrust into the war as a student nurse, then as a member of the Polish resistance. Living in the woods, part of an army without a country, Irene was selected to go on a mission into a nearby town and was captured by a Russian patrol who raped her and left her for dead. That experience alone would be enough to break almost anybody, but not Irene. The rape is merely the first of an indescribable number of hardships she endured during World War II; I often had tears in my eyes while reading this book. Irene lived through several lifetimes during the war, and while I am around the same age as her, I couldn't imagine surviving anything that she went through.
Irene's story is so many things - it is one of hope, one of courage, one of resistance, one of overcoming the odds, one of doing the right thing. A prisoner herself, while working in a German hotel, Irene did all she could to help those around her, including smuggling out food, warnings, and even hiding 12 Jews in a German officer's home.
Once I started "In My Hands," I couldn't put it down. Irene's story captivated me from beginning to end, and as I came to understand the metaphor of the bird that she starts her story with, I agreed with her. There is no way I could have understood all that she wanted to tell me if I didn't know the whole story, if I didn't know everything she endured and fought for. I found myself wanting to tell everyone I could about her story, and it led to a great talk between my father and myself (we're both history nerds).
While "In My Hands" is marketed as a young adult book, I believe it's beneficial for anyone, of any age, to read it and absorb it. Irene was moved to write her story after hearing that some groups claimed the Holocaust was a hoax, and she spoke for 30 years, imbuing a message of hope and tolerance to children across the country. Hands down, this is the best book I've read all year, and I wish I could thank the author.
5/5. show less
"In My Hands" starts with the author writing to the reader that if she tried to tell you what really happened during the war, told you everything at once, you wouldn't understand it. She includes an image that you won't comprehend until later in the book, the image of a bird falling, a bird that is not a bird. And as you come to understand what the bird really is, your heart will break, and you will know just what Irene means. show more
Born in 1922, in Poland, Irene had a happy childhood and a normal life. As a young child, she is saved from death by the family dog, and many in her village are convinced this means she has a great and promising life ahead of her. But for a girl in the 1920s, there weren't many adventures available, and drawn to helping people, Irene decided to go to nursing school.
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Irene's school was on the border, and she was immediately thrust into the war as a student nurse, then as a member of the Polish resistance. Living in the woods, part of an army without a country, Irene was selected to go on a mission into a nearby town and was captured by a Russian patrol who raped her and left her for dead. That experience alone would be enough to break almost anybody, but not Irene. The rape is merely the first of an indescribable number of hardships she endured during World War II; I often had tears in my eyes while reading this book. Irene lived through several lifetimes during the war, and while I am around the same age as her, I couldn't imagine surviving anything that she went through.
Irene's story is so many things - it is one of hope, one of courage, one of resistance, one of overcoming the odds, one of doing the right thing. A prisoner herself, while working in a German hotel, Irene did all she could to help those around her, including smuggling out food, warnings, and even hiding 12 Jews in a German officer's home.
Once I started "In My Hands," I couldn't put it down. Irene's story captivated me from beginning to end, and as I came to understand the metaphor of the bird that she starts her story with, I agreed with her. There is no way I could have understood all that she wanted to tell me if I didn't know the whole story, if I didn't know everything she endured and fought for. I found myself wanting to tell everyone I could about her story, and it led to a great talk between my father and myself (we're both history nerds).
While "In My Hands" is marketed as a young adult book, I believe it's beneficial for anyone, of any age, to read it and absorb it. Irene was moved to write her story after hearing that some groups claimed the Holocaust was a hoax, and she spoke for 30 years, imbuing a message of hope and tolerance to children across the country. Hands down, this is the best book I've read all year, and I wish I could thank the author.
5/5. show less
When World War II began, Irene Gutowna was a 17-year-old Polish nursing student. Six years later, she writes in this inspiring memoir, "I felt a million years old." In the intervening time she was separated from her family, raped by Russian soldiers, and forced to work in a hotel serving German officers. Sickened by the suffering inflicted on the local Jews, Irene began leaving food under the walls of the ghetto. Soon she was scheming to protect the Jewish workers she supervised at the show more hotel, and then hiding them in the lavish villa where she served as housekeeper to a German major. When he discovered them in the house, Gutowna became his mistress to protect her friends--later escaping him to join the Polish partisans during the Germans' retreat. The author presents her extraordinary heroism as the inevitable result of small steps taken over time, but her readers will not agree as they consume this thrilling adventure story, which also happens to be a drama of moral choice and courage. Although adults will find Irene's tale moving, it is appropriately published as a young adult book. Her experiences while still in her teens remind adolescents everywhere that their actions count, that the power to make a difference is in their hands. --Wendy Smith --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. show less
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Members
- 1,221
- Popularity
- #21,036
- Rating
- 4.3
- Reviews
- 22
- ISBNs
- 28
- Languages
- 6
- Favorited
- 4