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Irena was born in Warsaw, Poland. She spent most of her childhood in Otwock, Russian Empire (Now Poland).
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Irena's father, Stanisław Krzyżanowski, died of typhus in February 1917, when Irena was 7. He contracted it from a Jewish patient.
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Irena got in trouble for fist-fighting two girls who had been bullying their Jewish classmates.
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Even before the war began, Jews were being treated badly and Irena helped them even before she was a part of Żegota
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World War II began on September 1, 1939.
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All Jewish people over the age of 12 were forced to wear Star of David patches to help people identify them as Jews.
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The Warsaw Ghetto blocked Jewish people inside on area of Warsaw, Poland and most died of hunger and disease.
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Irena was working as a social worker in Poland. She gained permission to legally access the Warsaw Ghetto, and she would smuggle Jewish children out in various ways, give them fake papers, and give them to families to hide them.
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Irena used methods such as coffins, ambulances, sewers, and gunny sacks to smuggle the children out. Some children entered a Catholic church through the Ghetto Jewish entrance, and left with their fake papers through the Christian side. She smuggled out at least 2,500 children and infants.
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They planned to eradicate every single Jew.
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Most of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were sent to Treblinka, including the parents of some of the children Irena rescued.
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Jews were armed and fought the Nazis when they entered, and a young boy raised the flag of the Polish Military Union on the roof of a building in the Ghetto so that it was visible from outside the Ghetto.
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On October 30, 1943, Irena was arrested and sent to Pawiak Prison. They tortured her to try and get her to reveal the names of her associates. She refused, and the Żegota bribed the guards and she was released in February 1944.
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Germany surrenders to end World War II
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After the war, Irena tried to connect children back to their parents, but most had been sent to and killed in death camps. If their parents were killed, they were sent to relatives willing to take them.
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Megan Stewart, Elizabeth Cambers, Jessica Shelton and Sabrina Coons wrote a play about Irena, and introduced the world to Irena. They visited Poland and met Irena and some of the children she rescued. They have performed the play 375 times, in America and Europe.
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Irena was awarded the Order of the White Eagle because she rescued Jewish children. The Order of the White Eagle is Poland's highest distinction.
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Irena was nominated in 2007 for the Nobel Peace Prize, but lost to Al Gore.
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Irena died in Warsaw, Poland, at the age of 98.
