Based on a series of conversations and a lifetime of memories, playwright Dan Gordon’s play Irena’s Vow tells the little-known story of Irena Gut Opdyke. Irena was a young Polish-Catholic forced to serve as a housekeeper for Major Rugemer, a German military officer stationed in occupied Poland. After witnessing the brutal killing of a Jewish baby by an SS Officer, Irena vows to save the Jewish workers stationed in the Major’s house. Against all odds--and surviving several close calls--she manages to conceal all of them in the Major’s cellar until the end of the German occupation. Blackmail, raucous Nazi parties, and even the birth of a child can’t stand in her way. Irena’s true story is a shining example of how the human spirit can overcome the greatest of tragedies.
Irena's Vow guide sections
