REPOSTED FROM THE UK TELEGRAPH BLOG
I am ashamed to admit that I had never heard of Irena Sendler, whose obituary appeared in this morning’s paper. Hers is an awesomely humbling story, even by the standards of her heroic generation.
Irena Sendler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
A Polish Catholic, she spirited some 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto, displaying casual and extraordinary courage. She kept a list of the children she had saved, hoping one day to reunite them with their parents – although, in the event, almost all lost their families in Treblinka. In 1943, she was arrested by the Gestapo and tortured. Her legs and feet were broken, but she refused to give up her list. She was sentenced to death, but rescued, whereupon – almost unbelievably – she went back to work.
Here, though, is the sentence that leapt off the page at me: “Last year she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, eventually won by Al Gore.” Al Gore! I mean, nothing against the old lardbutt – it’s nice to see ex-politicians doing something they believe in rather than giving themselves over wholly to the getting of personal wealth – but making a film is not the same thing as donning a yellow star and smuggling babies past enemy soldiers.
Our generation, as Danny Kruger put it in the best tract of 2007, is moralistic rather than moral. We are better at holding opinions about what governments or multi-nationals should do than we are at doing the right thing by our neighbours. Having formed our opinions, we become self-righteous in a way that the Irena Sendlers of the world couldn’t understand.
“We who were rescuing children are not some kind of heroes”, she said towards the end of her life. “That term irritates me greatly. The opposite is true – I continue to have qualms of conscience that I did so little. I could have done more. This regret will follow me to my death.” There is a haunting sincerity to that statement. You can’t imagine Al Gore saying any such thing, can you?
Compare her courage to that of Al Gore’s. Broken legs, Gestapo interrogation…
Life is not always fair. Sometimes it’s downright vicious. I would like to see this UK Blog featured at other sites.
What a story! Absolutely selfless. I’m going to have to read more about this gal.
I doubt she fretted, for even a moment, over the prospect of winning that prize.
By the way Anthony,
This is a great inspirational post. Thanks.
It’s stuff like this that make me truely proud to be a norwegian. It has been said that the award given to Al gore was a kick in the shin to G.W Bush for not signing kyoto. I can’t believe those idiots in the Nobel prize commity will go through hell and high water to kick Bush in the shin.
And she would, like us, likely have been called a ‘denier.’
The knowledge of what Irena Sendler did makes me humble as a man; proud as a member of the human race.
The further knowledge (which Andrew Bolt also drew attention to in his Melbourne forum a few days ago): “Last year she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, eventually won by Al Gore.” engenders a feeling of bitterness and scorn in me.
You are owed a debit of gratitude for publishing this knowledge here, Anthony. Thank you.
Shows that the Gore guy is a cad.
If I had been nominated for a gong and then upon seeing the worth of the woman in competition… I’d have stood down and let her win unopposed….
That’s the trouble with someone who thinks they are saving the world. They think they are worth more than anyone else.
Ah well… In my mind Irena Sendler won it anyway…. Rest peacefully among angels good lady.
True enough, we are all children …at one time or always – depending on who is talking. What an extraordinary example of selflessness, may we all aspire to reach out to children to appreciate them for being …well, what they are, Tiny Tims or specks of sunshine.
For the sin of venality, Al Gore is already living in Hell. I don’t think he believes what he says. That’s heavy, man.
====================================
Now James Hansen? I believe it is still possible he believes; what he wants is the eternal gratitude of a saved world. He’ll get instead the curses of the cold and hungry, forevermore.
========================
I think she was lucky not to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s been so debased with awards to people like Yassar Arafat, Jimmy Carter, and Al Gore/IPCC that it’s not worth much anymore. The Peace Prize has become a political statement and not an award for an action that is universally recognized to bring a bit of peace to the world. The memorial at Yad Vashem is probably far more appropriate though less well known.
I agree with Pierre Gosselin, life in this world isn’t fair most of the time. But let’s not live in despair nor allow this prejudice to hinder us from doing what is “right”. Irena Sendler has done something so great that only a few can duplicate. She may not earn her reward today but surely in due time, she will earn due rewards, not from Nobel or from anybody else in this world, but from Someone whose authority, honor, and greatness far more exceed those that composed the Nobel Piece Price – Someone who will never allow even the smallest good deed of man to go in vain.
I’m sorry but I don’t get how Al Gore is in the wrong when he was the one awarded not awarding?
I’ve no doubt at all Irena Sendler was a fine woman who did remarkably courageous things, but I don’t see why she not getting the Nobel has to be used as an excuse to, for the umpteenth time, insult Al Gore? How can it be Al’s fault?
‘lardbutt’? That’s drunken lout level 🙁
REPLY: Note that is the Telegraph’s words, not mine.
Given some of the dubious past recipients of the Nobel “Peace” Prize, I think it is a badge of honor NOT to have received it! She deserves much better than that…
And when people talk about Al Gore and the IPCC receiving the Nobel prize, I quickly point out that they did NOT win the prize in the PHYSICS category!
Frank
I mean, nothing against [Al Gore] – it’s nice to see ex-politicians doing something they believe in rather than giving themselves over wholly to the getting of personal wealth – but making a film is not the same thing as donning a yellow star and smuggling babies past enemy soldiers.
It would be nice if he really believed in it. I’m not sure he does. Actions speak louder than words, and it took public outcry for him to “green” up his mansion, to say nothing of his private plane, etc. And as for money, he’s partnered up to form an investment company for investing in “environmental” companies – all his publicity raises the awareness of and the demand for those kinds of products, raising the value of their investments, no?
I doubt Al Gore really believes any of the tripe he pushes. He’s an opportunist, plain and simple.
As for kicking GW in the shin, it should be noted that Kyoto wasn’t signed under the Clinton/Gore administration either.
Actually, Al Gore has shown that it is possible to do something you believe in AND give yourself wholly to the getting of personal wealth at the same time.
Still, it is not his fault that he got the prize. If we are going to honour our heroes, we shouldn’t wait until they are 98 years old to nominate them for honours.
I don’t think she would deny that it has been warm. She would probably wonder at our concern over weather in general. If she was anything like my grandma she would just tell us to take a jacket with us and wear clean underwear.
The Nobel Prize Committee should be hanging its head more so that Big Al.
Gore got the Peace prize instead of her? For a bad movie full of inaccuracies and outright falsehood? Tell me the Nobel awards committee doesn’t look marred by this little revelation.
If Al Gore had any sense of shame he wouldn’t be Al Gore.
Thank you for the post Anthony. What a lady! I regret that the Nobel Peace Prize can not be awarded posthumously, as she most certainly deserves it.
Regrettably, saving 2500 children from almost certain death doesn’t seem to compare to a politician claiming he will “save the world”. That makes the Nobel Peace Prize rather trivial, does it not?
It is probably better that she didn’t win because then she would have been linked with terrorist and anti-Semite Yassir Arafat. The Nobel Peace Prize has been a joke for a LONG time.
Just goes to show you how much these political prizes like the Nobel really mean: squat!
Irena’s real legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of all those who had heard of her. What will the winners of the Nobel be remembered for? What legacy will they leave?
Great find Anthony, thanks for posting. I can’t blame Al for this one, he doesn’t decide who wins, but certainly the Nobel committee should be embarrassed for making a political statement when they could have awarded her this prize.
..any excuse to get an “Al Gore is fat” post up. This site jumped the shark eons ago.
REPLY: What a narrow (and completely wrong) view you have. You completely ignore the fact that Gore’s film has errors, exaggerations, and is self serving promotion because he’s heading up a carbon trading scheme with an investment firm.
This brave lady stood up to Gestapo, got her legs broken, and saved 2500 children from certain death. Al flies around in a private jet, spews propaganda, and collects huge speaking fees not to mention huge sums on carbon trading.
Yeah sure, “its all about him being fat”.
Yes, I saw this story too and had much the same feelings about it as Anthony, but expressed them somewhat more forcefully! Who judges these awards?
A outstanding candidate for the Nobel, but remember that she only save 2500 innocent children. The latest data (also known as computer model WAGs by non-climate scientists) show Al Gore will save millions.
Anthony Watts criticizing Gore becasue his film has “errors, exaggerations, and is self serving promotion”. And they say irony is dead, LOL.
REPLY: Well unlike you, I’m not an academic coward spewing criticism while hiding behind a Winnebago. See here’s the thing: your opinion is that form is worthless.
If you don’t like what I have to say, or repost from news articles, nobody’s forcing you to visit here. I suspect that it’s mainly just so you have an opportunity to taunt that you don’t get in the University environment.
Can I just say to those who have left the comments on Irena Sendler that they should also read up on Pearl Cornioley. She was an astounding woman, who sadly died in February this year. Her amazing explots during WW2 were completely breath-taking. As a man I have to say she would put me to shame in a death-defying situation.
On behalf of the Lake, the County, and the Ho-Chunk Nation I would like to appologize for the fact that Winnebago is clearly without a clue and to assure everyone that he represents none of the afore mentioned Winnebagos.
Al Gore is a pathological liar. An Inconvenient Truth contains almost nothing that is true. Which speaks volumes about the desperation of the Warmers.
Before the Nobel Prize in Science is awarded, the discovery being honored must be proven to be valuable and important. Recipients may wait a decade or more before being awarded.
But the Nobel Peace Prize is just awarded according to the whims of the day. How many Peace Prizes have been awarded for Middle East Peace? We haven’t seen any real peace in that part of the world since… since maybe the Ottoman Empire ruled it.
What would it take to change the criteria for the Noble Peace Prize? Let’s have a 5 to 10 year wait before awarding the prize. That would really help to make the prize legitimate again.
Thanks for bringing her story to my attention.
Hers is a humbling story.
I wish Mr Gore would revisit Oslo on the 17th of May, the Norwegian National Day.
Because if he did he would get a chilly reception.
The day is expected to be the coldest National Day in over 50 years.
It is even possible that capital will get snow.
Al “the debate is over” Gore is nothing but a professional liar, hypocrite, and fraud, and makes big money from it. His movie, Inconvenient Truth is just so much rubbish-laden bilgewater. The British high court found nine major errors in Gore’s film and wrote that some of Gore’s claims had arisen “in the context of alarmism and exaggeration,” a kind way of saying “he lied”. This from a judge who believes in man-made warming! History will not treat him kindly. Will he ever hang his head in shame? I doubt it, but you never know, maybe the lardbutt will.
I wonder what these children, who were unselfishly saved, think today about Ms Sendler getting beat out by a guy who got a Nobel Prize prize for nothing more than making a political propoganda film based on phoney climate science.
Al Gore’s follower’s even exploit the tragedy of the Holocaust by calling people with differing opinions “deniers”. One zealot even demanded Nuremburg type trials for people who commit the crime of disagreeing with their AGW doctrine. This is what really gnaws me inside. All the while, these guys spend their time flying around in private jets and consuming enough energy to power a small town.
Yeah, I’ve heard about her. She started out by smuggling food and supplies into the Warsaw ghetto. She then smuggled kids out through the sewers. Parents asked if she could guarantee their kids’ safety. All she could do was guarantee they’d die if they stayed.
She gave the kids fake names. But because some of them would be too young to remember she saved their real names in bottles buried in her garden in hopes they could be reunited with their families. They were recovered after the war (most of the families, of course, had perished).
In her last years she finally got recognition. Some school kids had found out about her story about ten years back and wrote a play about her. As a result, she got the thanks of the world (and the nursing care she needed).
[…] was originally in The Telegraph and reposted at Watts Up With That where it came to my […]
If Al Gore had any sense of shame at all, he wouldn’t have done the asinine movie.
Ms. Sendler’s deeds took a form of courage rarely seen which of course could not be appreciated by the Nobel committee, since the concept of bravery and honor is unknown to them.
Just shows that there is a difference between:
Doing good to do good (Irena Sendler)
and
Doing good to do well (Al Gore)
The Nobel committee have ignored this difference, because their aim was not to reward “doing good” but to further their own political agenda.
Corruption and cynicism at its worst.
[…] A must read! Jump to Comments http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/i-hope-al-gore-is-hanging-his-head/ […]
The true heroes of this world very seldom receive the recognition they deserve until some time after their deaths. While those that make millions off those of us that must survive daily by their creative methods of dealing with our economic system are often deemed heroes while they are in the process of life. It is after the death that the true investigations detect the true heroes and heroines. Ms. Sendler has her reward and recognition. I have no doubt that she is a Christian and her God has given her the reward she has earned. Al Gore will one day have to consider what his reward will be and what the world will think about him after he is gone from here.
Thank you Anthony for a wonderful post.
Bill Derryberry
I understand your feelings on the matter, but Gore didn’t force anyone to select him for the reward over other nominees. I don’t feel that one action is more valiant or should be deemed more important than another.
The Nobel prize is normally rewarded for scientific discoveries and advancements. On that basis alone, Gore was every bit as eligible as anyone else. Global warming is not phony climate science. There are many scientists who have been trying for years and years to show the world many of the things that Gore’s movie highlighted. No, he was not the first to discover global warming or speak of its effects on our planet, but he certainly has been an outspoken advocate for environmental affairs. He is doing something not to further his own wealth, but to help us catch and hopefully reverse some of the negative things we have done to the Earth. This will benefit us, our children, and many more to come for as long as the world is in existence.
Is that not something worth recognizing also?
I absolutely believe that Irena deserves recognition for the selfless things she did during such a horrible time. But perhaps not recognition that is normally reserved for scientific advancement. If there is something like the Purple Heart or another prestigious award that can be given, it absolutely should. Even a monument, or holiday. But her actions don’t make anyone else’s less important, less selfless or less remarkable.
They both deserve recognition in my eyes!
-PA27
topedcmentor:
With all due respect, Gore had no business receiving the Peace Prize. Either he and merited a science prize or he did not.
If there were any truth in it, sure.
Gore’s Global Warming IS phony climate science. None of his major points are supported by scientific evidence.
No personal gain?? Why does he charge 100k per speaking engagement instead of just his travel expenses? Why does he use a private jet instead of the transportation the rest of us use? Why does he expect all of us to make sacrifices while he gets richer and richer doing all the things he rails against? He is the definition of hypocrisy.
You are just Grandstanding on this issue! Other wise why single out Al Gore? I seem to remember Henry Kissinger getting a Nobel peace prize too.
Since the second world war, the Nobel peace prize was not awarded in 1948, 1956, and 1967. Why not argue that she should have had it then? It could have even been backdated to 1948 which would have been the closest year to Irena’s heroics. Why not argue for that?
Gore won’t lose any sleep at night if he heard about this. He knows AGW is phony. It’s just a means to an end – and that end will be taxable.
Why should anybody believe this story of Irena Sendler, and at the same time reject AGW? Has anybody compared the quality of the proofs in both cases?
Wow, I’ve found a new hero. Thank you very much!
Also, excellent point abut Moralistic rather than Moral… I’ve never heard it placed so perfectly, and it’s an idea that’s been spinning around in my own head for quite some time.
Thank you 2×1000!
Jos Verhulst :”Why should anybody believe this story of Irena Sendler, and at the same time reject AGW?”
If AGW is real, why was it necessary for Al Gore to fake “reality” in his movie “An Inconvenient Truth”? One example: He used Hollywood created computer-generated footage of Antarctic ice shelves calving (taken straight from the movie The Day After Tomorrow)
http://newsbusters.org/node/20680?q=blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/04/22/abc-s-20-20-gore-used-fictional-film-clip-inconvenient-truth
The “Peace” Prize is a joke. Gore created unnecessary hysteria; he did nothing to contribute to world peace. At least he’s in “good” company with others who do not deserve it either: Jimmy (terrorist hugger) Carter and Yasser Arafat to name two.
The Nobel Peace prize has long been a political device foisted upon the world by the unqualified and despicable.
Hate to disappoint, But Al Gore didn’t even make a movie. FatAl narrated a piece of propaganda. Narrated. Propaganda. Political.
such bravery. many of us could take a page from her book. And she didnt even consider herself a hero.
…..great article, amazing lady
……..true Heros and Angels go about their work
every day with out thought of recognition.
the Noble Peace Prize and the Committee are not worthy of Irena
The story of Irena Sendler is hard to swallow. It is claimed that she has smuggled 2.500 jewish babies out of the ghetto. That makes 5 or 10 babies every day. And all these babies had to be placed somewhere. There are a lot of war propaganda stories, that have been believed widely but that finally turned out to be false. Here is a recent example:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1580357/'Wolf-woman'-invents-Holocaust-survival-tale.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/947275.html
Perhaps hard proofs backing the reality of this Sendler tale are lacking,and it is thinkable that some members of the Noble Peace Prize committee had their doubts. Of course, they should have had their doubts on Al Gore’s story, too.
To mention Al Gores name in the same sentence with this lady is an abomination. The Politically Correct crowd will have this next generation believing we are come from out of space.
Jos:
The children were taken and given, under false names, to other families. As a third of the population of Poland was murdered (half of them non-Jewish) during the war, it is probable that not all of them survived in any event.
She wrote down the names (the famous bottles-buried-in-the -garden story). She did this at deadly risk of discovery. They were recovered after the war. That is fairly good documentation for the numbers, considering the circumstances of the war.
Peter Martin,
Did you even read the story? The reason we “single out Al Gore” is because Sendler was nominated for the prize the year Al won. Sure, we could argue that Sendler should have been nominated in other years, and I do, but the year that she was finally nominated, Al won the prize instead. Does that seem fair to you?
If I were in Al’s shoes at the time, I doubt that I could even consider keeping the prize from a deserving hero such as Irena Sendler.
@ topcdmentor,
The prize comes in many different categories. The peace prize is not about scientific advancement in any way.
And it IS phony science. I have yet to see even one piece of observational (sorry not computer models), real world evidence that CO2 warms the earth.
I suppose this is how Al Gore lives with this fact: At a recent graduation ceremony he implied Global Warming is as great of a threat as WW2 Fascism and that our generation could be the next great generation if we “solve” it. So yes…Al Gore DOES believe hes better then this woman.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356556,00.html
[…] got it from my favorite science site Wattsupwiththat. Snoop around his site and you will see that the justification for Gore winning the prize is […]
At a recent graduation ceremony he implied Global Warming is as great of a threat as WW2 Fascism
Appalling.
WWII, especially the European Theater, is probably my main area of expertise. The threat to, well, everything, was colossal. Unimaginable.
It’s pathetic when you see Al Gore’s name up there with past winners who really deserved their rewards. It’s a great pity that people like Irena Sendler who quietly and selflessly made such major contributions to humankind are either unknown or all too easily forgotten. Al Gore and his ilk are no more than money-grubbing parasites out for their own agrandizement.
I”m glad they didn’t sully this woman’s good name by adding her to a list that includes not just Al Gore and other windbags but the likes of Arafat, Al Baradaei and Peanut Jimmy Carter.
It would be shameful to insult such a fine and brave woman.
Echo chamber indeed
the argument is on a line with:
A dude inherits a swack of cash from his uncle who died,
he is not destitute but others are,
he should feel ashamed that he accepted the money rather than insist it be given to all poorer than he.
He is fat, obnoxious, a lair, a scumbag etc as well.
The uncle is a piece of crap because he didn’t give it to others who were more poor than the dude. Oh yes and he is a scumbag too. And so are the other members of his family who received some cash too.
Listen to yourselves people you’ve allowed yourselves to twist any story to fit your “verbal” fatwah against Gore. He may be wrong, the amazing lady is truly amazing, but why should her magnificence be used as a stick to hit someone with by people with an axe to grind?
Here’s another one for you: “the sky is blue, Gore is fat”
Impeccable argumentation.
That only holds up if you equate winning an undeserved prize to inheriting money in the normal course of affairs.
It’s bad enough if it’s a “cold fusion” prize for mistaken science. That would be a mere mistake.
But a peace prize for an extreme sanctimony that has been quite destructive in terms of human life and wellbeing (and threatens more damage) is beyond the pale.
Sort of like the prodigal son inheriting all the swag while his infinitely more deserving sister is cut out of the will.
Besides, this isn’t about the money, it’s about the credit.
My reply would be awarding any prizes to a single entity for being the best whatever is probably an enterprise in extreme sanctimony anyway, I mean who gets to pick the judges anyway?
That’s why if anybody needs criticising it’s the judges, see loads of people above.
If the prodigal son inherits it all, so what, whose was it to give? And it wasn’t the son’s fault he got it all. Once more it was the choice of the owner of the award who “judged” him suitable.
It really isn`t rocket science, admit it you don`t like Gore and you chose a stick to beat him with that wasn`t really suitable for the task.
Point.
In that sense, it is not his “fault” (unless, perhaps, it can be shown he “campaigned” for it).
And I quite freely admit an aversion to Gore. To the NP judges, as well. (I consider myself to be a liberal, but I consider those guys to be quite unliberal, even anti-liberal.)
Yet if there are two equal candidates for a beneficence one may judge the wisdom of which gets it.
It really isn`t rocket science, admit it you don`t like Gore and you chose a stick to beat him with that wasn`t really suitable for the task.
Agreed.
I don’t see why Al Gore should hang his head, he didn’t choose to award himself the prize, nor did he choose to be nominated. A different title and message would do this story and this woman more justice. She deserves to be recognized for what she did, not what she did not receive and she certainly doesn’t need to be compared to Al Gore in such a way that gives this fantastic story such a negative spin.
Again, Gore could have refused the prize. None of this changes the fact that he’s an extreme hypocrite.
I just found out about the Irena Sendler project “Life in a Jar”:
http://www.irenasendler.org/
It’s worth a look.