How one person saved over 2,000 children from the Nazis - Iseult Gillespie

譯者: 至磊Zi Le 黃Ng 審譯者: Claire Hsu

In Warsaw, late October 1943,

1943 年 10 月底的華沙，

Irena Sendler and Janina Grabowska were enjoying a rare moment of peace

伊蕾娜‧森德勒 與雅妮娜‧格拉波斯卡

在飽經戰亂的城市裡 享受著難得的片刻寧靜。

in their war-torn city.

But their laughter froze when they heard the Gestapo pounding on Sendler’s door.

但笑聲驟然停止，

因為她們聽見蓋世太保 猛力拍著森德勒的家門。

Sendler rushed to the window to dispose of incriminating evidence—

森德勒跑到窗邊消除 可能會陷她於罪的證據，

only to see more police patrolling below.

不料看到下方有更多員警來巡查。

Knowing she was minutes from arrest,

她知道自己在幾分鐘內就會被補，

she tossed Janina her most dangerous possession:

便把她身上最危險的物品塞給雅妮娜：

a glass jar containing the names of over 2,000 Jewish children

那是一個玻璃罐，

裡面裝有超過兩千名 她私自救出的猶太孩童的名字。

she’d smuggled to safety.

This arrest wasn’t the first consequence Sendler had faced

森德勒一生都在跟反猶太主義奮戰，

in her lifelong crusade against anti-Semitism.

而這次逮捕並不是 她首次面臨不好的後果。

Born to Catholic parents in 1910, she grew up in a predominantly Jewish town

1910 年，森德勒生在 一個天主教家庭，

成長於一座居民大多是猶太人的城鎮，

where her father treated poor Jewish patients other doctors refused to help.

她父親會醫治被其他醫生 拒絕的貧苦猶太病患。

Irena was furious at the constant discrimination against her Jewish friends.

伊蕾娜的猶太朋友持續遭受歧視， 讓她十分生氣。

As a graduate student in social welfare at the University of Warsaw,

身為華沙大學社會福利系的研究生，

Sendler publicly denounced the segregation of classrooms

森德勒公開抨擊種族隔離的教室，

and defaced her non-Jewish identity card—

損毀她的非猶太身分證，

earning her a suspension and a reputation for troublemaking.

因而被以鬧事退學，得到不好的名聲。

Buoyed by her socialist ideals and inspired by her fellow social workers,

桑德勒為社會主義的理想所鼓舞， 並受到社工同事的激勵，

Sendler assisted vulnerable Jewish families across Warsaw,

她幫助在華沙受到迫害的猶太家庭，

pushing back on the waves of anti-Semitism surging through Europe.

阻擋全歐各地湧現的反猶浪潮。

But in September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland,

但於 1939 年 9 月， 納粹德國入侵波蘭，

bringing laws that further eroded Jewish rights.

制訂進一步侵害猶太人權利的法律。

In 1940, Hitler announced that hundreds of thousands of Jews in Warsaw

1940 年希特勒宣布 華沙的數十萬猶太人

were to be forced into just over one square mile of land.

將被強迫遷入僅一平方英里的土地。

Bordered by high walls and subject to constant surveillance,

受到高牆環繞，持續遭到監控，

families living in the Warsaw Ghetto quickly became starving and sick.

華沙猶太區裡面的家庭 很快就饑病交迫。

Appalled, Sendler and her colleagues secured passes to the ghetto

在震驚之下，森德勒和同事 謊稱為了治療斑疹傷寒，

on the pretense of checking for typhus outbreaks.

以設法取得集中區的通行證。

At first, her group worked to smuggle in resources

一開始她的團隊在同情的波蘭官員 和醫療人員協助下

with the help of sympathetic Polish officials and the medical underground.

秘密偷渡物資。

But as desperate parents began sending their children through sewers

但當絕望的家長開始 將孩子從下水道和高牆送出去，

and over walls,

it became clear that to help these people survive,

森德勒很清楚要讓這些人存活

Sendler needed to help them escape.

就必須幫他們逃脫。

Sendler and her associates developed a coordinated campaign of rescue missions.

森德勒和她的夥伴發起了 一場聯合救援行動。

Children were bundled into dirty laundry, packed into boxes on cargo trains,

孩童被塞進髒衣服， 裝箱送上貨運列車，

and carried beneath the Gestapo’s noses in coffins, toolboxes, and briefcases.

放進棺材、工具箱、公事包中， 在蓋世太保的眼皮子底下運送。

Bigger children escaped through the courthouse and church,

個子較大的孩子 則經由法院和教堂逃脫，

which straddled the ghetto’s boundaries.

越過集中區的邊界。

Sendler helped ferry these children to safe houses,

森德勒幫忙將這些孩子運送到藏匿處，

before forging them new documents and sending them to orphanages,

弄到偽造的身分證明後，

將他們送到全波蘭的 孤兒院、女修道院、寄養家庭。

convents, and foster families across Poland.

To retain their Jewish identities and keep track of every child,

為保有孩子的猶太身分並予以追蹤，

Sendler kept painstaking records on thin cigarette paper

森德勒在薄薄的捲菸紙上仔細記錄，

and stored them in glass jars.

並將記錄保存於玻璃罐內。

This work was punishable by death.

這個行動可被判處死刑。

But for Sendler, such consequences paled in comparison

但對森德勒而言，

比起說服父母和孩子分離的痛苦 這種後果根本不算什麼，

to the pain of convincing parents to part with their children—

often with no promise of a reunion.

很多時候無法保證彼此能再團聚。

In 1942, the Nazis began transporting Jews from the ghetto

1942 年，納粹開始將猶太人 從集中區轉移至集中營。

into concentration camps.

Sendler worked with new urgency,

森德勒的工作更為急迫，

joining forces with the Nazi resistance group called Zegota.

因此她加入了反納粹組織「熱戈塔」。

Zegota helped Sendler expand her operation by stashing money for her

熱戈塔為了幫助森德勒擴大行動，

將錢藏遍華沙的各個郵筒裡，

in post boxes across Warsaw.

But this system would also be Sendler’s downfall.

但這套系統也使得森德勒遭逢不幸。

When the Gestapo threatened a laundry owner whose business

當蓋世太保威脅一位洗衣店老闆，

因其店裡有熱戈塔的郵箱，

contained a Zegota post box,

she gave them Sendler’s name.

她就供出了森德勒的名字。

At 3am on October 20th, the Gestapo burst into Sendler’s apartment,

10 月 20 日早上 3 點， 蓋世太保闖入森德勒的公寓，

arresting her for aiding Jews throughout the country.

以援助國內猶太人的罪名逮捕她。

The police had captured Sendler, but her records remained safe.

警察抓住了森德勒， 但她的紀錄未被尋獲。

Janina protected the children’s names with her life,

雅妮娜用生命保護這些孩子的名字，

all without knowing whether her friend would ever return.

儘管全然不知朋友是否能無恙歸來。

Despite enduring months of physical and psychological torture,

儘管受到長達數個月的身心折磨，

Sendler betrayed no information.

森德勒沒有出賣任何情報。

Defiant to the end, she was sentenced to execution on January 20th, 1944.

因為堅持抵抗到底，

1944 年 1 月 20 日 她被判了死刑。

But as she walked to her death, a German officer diverted her course.

但當她正步向死亡之際， 一位德國軍官扭轉了她的命運。

Zegota had paid the Gestapo the modern equivalent of over $100,000

熱戈塔付給蓋世太保相當於 今天超過十萬美元的金額，

for Sendler’s release.

請他放了森德勒。

That night as she listened to bullhorns proclaiming her death,

那一晚她聽見擴音器宣告她的死亡，

Sendler’s work began anew.

森德勒重新開始工作。

Remaining in hiding, she continued to oversee Zegota’s rescue missions

她一面躲藏，

一面繼續督促熱戈塔的救援行動，

until Germany’s defeat in 1945.

直到 1945 年德國戰敗。

After the war, Sendler reconnected with the children she’d helped escape,

戰後，森德勒和她救出的孩子 重新取得聯繫，

remaining in contact with many for the rest of her life.

終其一生和許多人保持著聯絡。

And while the new Polish government sought to suppress her story,

雖然波蘭新政府試圖查禁她的事蹟，

the children she rescued ensured she was recognized for her work.

但她救出的孩子能確保 她的成果獲得表彰。

Yet despite all the lives she saved,

儘管救了這麼多條性命，

Sendler remained hesitant to accept praise for her actions, remarking,

森德勒仍然猶豫是否該接受 眾人對她行動的讚譽，她說：

“I continue to have qualms of conscience that I did so little.”

「我還是覺得良心不安， 因為我做得太少了。」