Irena's War
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Narrated by:
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Romy Nordlinger
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By:
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James D. Shipman
About this listen
September 1939: The conquering Nazis swarm through Warsaw as social worker Irena Sendler watches in dread from her apartment window. Already, the city's poor go hungry. Irena wonders how she will continue to deliver food and supplies to those who need it most, including the forbidden Jews. The answer comes unexpectedly.
Dragged from her home in the night, Irena is brought before a Gestapo agent, Klaus Rein, who offers her a position running the city's soup kitchens, all to maintain the illusion of order. Though loath to be working under the Germans, Irena learns there are ways to defy her new employer - including forging documents so that Jewish families receive food intended for Aryans. As Irena grows bolder, her interactions with Klaus become more fraught and perilous.
Klaus is unable to prove his suspicions against Irena - yet. But once Warsaw's half-million Jews are confined to the ghetto, awaiting slow starvation or the death camps, Irena realizes that providing food is no longer enough. Recruited by the underground Polish resistance organization Zegota, she carries out an audacious scheme to rescue Jewish children. One by one, they are smuggled out in baskets and garbage carts, or led through dank sewers to safety - every success raising Klaus's ire.
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What listeners say about Irena's War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- LobsterGirl
- 09-16-24
Too Long
hello. I am very familiar with the story as I have read the biography of the main character. this story is far too long and very hard to get into. I liked the general storyline but was often skipping ahead. the narrator however is excellent.
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- Donna S
- 06-09-22
I’ve heard better
Unfortunately I just listened to another book on the same subject and this book was like watching the film after reading the book. The book that I prefer is by Tilar J Mazzeo titled “Irena’s children the extraordinary story of the woman who saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw ghetto” I have no connection to either author or any publisher.
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- Adam Basua
- 10-25-24
Well written and well read
This story told two sides of the horrific events during WW2. It was well written and well read.
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- susanna white
- 06-18-24
Extraordinary story
The novel brought real history to life about a courageous woman and true story. I found the narration at times to be very distracting.
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- Sarah K
- 12-13-23
Good story but Not my favorite performance
Blah performance voice. A bit annoying to go with the story line. If I didn’t have to finish a book I might have stopped reading
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- Janet
- 09-24-24
Narrator hurt the story
The story was good. It was interesting since we had been to Warsaw and knew the area. It gave us a lot of interesting background. The narrator made it almost impossible to listen to. Her voice was such that it was like listening to a horror story read to you by kindergarten teacher.
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- prc
- 01-31-22
Excellent story, sadly. sadly extremely poor writi
I found it unbelievably sad that such a powerful true story could be written with the quality of a high school class project.
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