A few years ago I watched the movie “Irena’s Vow” and it’s one of the most intense Holocaust-based movies I’ve seen.

“Caught in a German roundup to be used as a slave laborer, Polish nurse Irena Gut becomes a German army major’s housekeeper during World War II. Irena risks her life to conceal a dozen Jews within the major’s home.”

“Irena’s Vow” is based on a true story and at the conclusion of the movie, they have updates on the fates of some of the main characters. It was quite remarkable what they endured (and risked) and, maybe even more so, the ‘rest of their stories’. I would not have expected that’s ultimately how the story played out.

As someone who reads and watches quite a bit on the Holocaust, quite frankly because it’s so horrifically surreal, I often wonder how people lived during that time. I found the movie to be terrifying and yet so important from a historical perspective. Every story from WWII is a common one and yet each one unique. In the face of evil, so very many brave people risked their own lives to help others.

Irena is rounded up in Poland and sent to a factory to make munitions for the German war effort. She encounters a German officer who, based on her Aryan appearance and skills, brings her to his home to serve as his housekeeper and cook, as well as the supervisor for a group of Jewish ‘tailors’.

When they receive word that all the Jews in that village/town are to be exterminated on a particular date in July, Irena sets a plan in motion to hide the Jewish seamstresses. The officer for whom she works advises her that a few days prior to the scheduled extermination date, he will relocate to a country home (note, a home that was confiscated from a Jewish family) and she has two weeks to get the house in order before he arrives. Irena takes that opportunity to prepare the home to secret away the eleven Jews.

Compelling acting, great cinematography, interesting story. ‘Irena’s Vow’ not only recounted the bravery of those who were willing to risk their owns lives, but also the astoundingly cruel brutality of the Nazis