Irene Gut Opdyke

Irene Gut was a young nursing student in Poland when World War II shattered her world. Forced into labor for the German army, she witnessed the brutal persecution of Jews and made a conscious, dangerous choice to resist. Using her position and access, she smuggled food and supplies into the Radom ghetto. Her most audacious act was hiding twelve Jewish refugees in the basement of a villa owned by a German major for whom she worked, constantly risking execution. After the war, she emigrated to the United States, where she initially kept her story private, believing no one would care. Decades later, she began speaking publicly, her quiet, powerful testimony becoming a vital personal account of courage and moral defiance in the face of absolute evil.