Irene Gut Opdyke
Irene Gut Opdyke (born Irena Gut, 5 May 1918 – 17 May 2003) was a Polish nurse who gained international recognition for aiding Polish Jews persecuted by Nazi Germany during World War II. She was honored as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem for risking her life to save 12 Jews.
Irene Gut Opdyke

Biblioteka Piekary Śląskie / Mateusz Żywulski · Świadectwo człowieczeństwa w czasie zagłady. Historia Ireny Gut-Opdyke Film dostępny na licencji: Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa (CC BY) · CC BY 3.0
- Name
- Irene Gut Opdyke
- Birth Name
- Irena Gut
- Born
- 5 May 1918
- Birthplace
- Kozienice, Kingdom of Poland
- Place of death
- Fullerton, California, U.S.
- Died
- 17 May 2003
- Occupation
- Nurse
- Nationality
- United States · Poland
- Honours
- Righteous Among the Nations
- Languages
- English
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Irene Gut Opdyke (born Irena Gut, 5 May 1918 – 17 May 2003) was a Polish nurse who gained international recognition for aiding Polish Jews persecuted by Nazi Germany during World War II. She was honored as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem for risking her life to save 12 Jews.
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wikidata · Q1097838 · wikipedia · Irene Gut Opdyke
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Irene Gut Opdyke • Birth Name — Irena Gut • Born — 5 May 1918 • Birthplace — Kozienice, Kingdom of Poland • Place of death — Fullerton, California, U.S. • Died — 17 May 2003 • Occupation — Nurse • Citizenship — * Poland • United States • Children — 1 • Honours — Righteous Among the Nations • Illustration — Maple tree in memory of Irena Gut Opdyke, Righteous Among the Nations, in Piekary Śląskie, in Poland.
Life
Life
Irena Gut was born into a Catholic family, in Kozienice, Poland, five months ahead of the formation of the Second Polish Republic; she was one of five daughters. The Gut family moved during Guts childhood, first to Chełm before settling Kozłowa Góra, where her father opened a factory which produced glass and ceramics. As a teenager Gut joined her school dance group which would perform in the area. Guts mother was involved in charity and Gut eventually became a volunteer at the local Red Cross. Among the volunteers duties involved visiting the local hospital with flowers and gifts for the patients. Observing the care given to the patients by the attending nuns, Gut determined that she wanted to become a nun, combining her strong faith and caring for others. After a talk with her father, who suggested she become a nurse instead, Gut enrolled at St. Mary nursing school at Radom before the Nazi-Soviet invasion of 1939. While she was hiding during the invasion, Russian soldiers discovered her and she was beaten and raped. Originally forced to work in a munitions factory during the German occupation, Gut was hired by Wehrmacht Major Eduard Rügemer to work in a kitchen of a hotel that frequently served Nazi officials when he learned she was fluent in German. It was during this period that Gut witnessed a German soldier, in the ghetto near the hotel, rip an infant from its mother's arms and throw the baby head-first onto the ground, presumably killing the child. Horrified, she initially wanted to leave her faith but she came to a realization that people have a choice between doing good or evil and determined that she would help the Jews when the opportunity arose. Knowing she risked her life, Gut secretly took food from the hotel and delivered it to the Tarnopol Ghetto. Gut smuggled Jews out of the ghetto into the surrounding forest and delivered food for them there. Meanwhile, Rügemer asked Gut to work as a housekeeper in his requisitioned villa. She hid 12 Jews in the cellar. They would come out and help her clean the house when he was not around. Rügemer found out about the Jews she was hiding. At risk to all their lives, Rügemer kept Gut's secret, on the condition that she become his mistress. Rügemer fled with the Germans in 1944 ahead of the Russian advance. Gut and several Jews fled west from Soviet occupied Poland to Allied-occupied Germany. She was put in a Displaced Persons camp, where she met William Opdyke, a United Nations worker from New York City. She emigrated to the United States and married Opdyke shortly thereafter in 1956. They had a daughter together. Opdyke died in 1993. Gut died in 2003 after complications from hepatitis.
Recognition
Recognition
After years of silence regarding her wartime experience, in 1975 Opdyke was convinced to speak after hearing a neo-Nazi claim that the Holocaust never occurred. Opdyke began a public speaking career which culminated in her memoir In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer. In 1982, she was recognized and honored by Yad Vashem as one of the Polish Righteous Among the Nations. In 2012, Irene Gut Opdyke was recognized and honored by Yad Vashem as one of the German Righteous Among the Nations.
Synagogue service and papal blessing
Synagogue service and papal blessing
On 9 June 1995, Opdyke was honored with a papal blessing from Pope John Paul II at a joint service of Jews and Catholics held at Shir Ha-Ma'alot synagogue in Irvine, California, along with an invitation from Pope John Paul II for her to have an audience with him. The papal blessing and audience with the Pope had been obtained for her by congregant Alan Boinus with the help of Monsignor Joseph Karp of the John Paul II Polish Center Catholic church in Yorba Linda, California. The papal blessing was the first recognition by the Catholic Church of her efforts during the Holocaust. Opdyke said, "This is the greatest gift I can receive for whatever I did in my life."
ABC Primetime Live trip to Israel
ABC Primetime Live trip to Israel
In July 1997, Opdyke traveled to Israel with her manager, Alan Boinus, and his wife, publicist Rosalie Boinus, for a television story arranged by the Boinuses for ABC Primetime Live, which aired on 10 June 1998 and re-united Opdyke with Hermann Morks, one of the twelve Jews whose lives she saved. On the trip, Alan Boinus arranged for private meetings with Opdyke at the Knesset with former President and Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Peres and Speaker of the Knesset Dan Tichon. Boinus also arranged for other meetings in Israel for Opdyke with Mordecai Paldiel, Director of the Department of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem, and with Holocaust survivor Roman Haller: Roman was the baby Opdyke saved during the war by convincing his parents, Ida and Lazar Haller—two of the 12 Jews that Gut had hidden in Rügemer's cellar—that Ida should carry the child to term after she became pregnant while hiding in the cellar. After the war, when a returning Rügemer was rejected by his wife and children in Nuremberg for being party to saving Jews, the Hallers took him into their own home in Munich. Rügemer became Zeide ('grandfather') to Roman Haller. Haller went on to serve as director of the German office of the Claims Conference, which represents world Jewry in negotiating restitution for the victims of Nazi persecution.
Memoir
Memoir
Opdyke's memoir, In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer, was arranged by her then-manager Alan Boinus and published in 1999 through Random House, with co-author Jennifer Armstrong. Alan Boinus and his wife, Rosalie Boinus, among others, are thanked by Opdyke in the acknowledgements.
Irene Gut Opdyke Holocaust Rescuer Foundation
Irene Gut Opdyke Holocaust Rescuer Foundation
The Irene Gut Opdyke Holocaust Rescuer Foundation was founded in 1997 by Alan and Rosalie Boinus in honor of Opdyke to offer awards, grants, and scholarships to young people inspired by the heroic acts of Irene Gut Opdyke when she was young, so they may likewise stand up to racism, bigotry, and hate. It has since been disbanded.
Play
Play
A play based on the book In My Hands, Irena's Vow, opened on Broadway on 29 March 2009 to mixed reviews. It was written by Dan Gordon and starred Tovah Feldshuh as Irena Gut. It had earlier premiered off-Broadway at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City. After failing to find an audience, the play closed on 28 June 2009. Irena's Vow, a film adaptation of the play, premiered in 2023 with Sophie Nélisse in the lead role.
Motion picture legal dispute
Motion picture legal dispute
In 1998, Opdyke's story was the subject of legal action and cross-complaint when she sought to regain the motion picture rights to her life story, which she had previously assigned in an option agreement. Copyright attorney Carole Handler represented Opdyke and worked with the parties to reach an agreement. The case was dismissed with prejudice.
Songs
Songs
In 2012, Katy Carr, a British songwriter with Polish roots, released a song inspired by Opdyke titled "Mała Little Flower" on her album Paszport. On 26 September 2012, Trójka Radio in Poland nominated it as a song of the week. The German Metalcore band Heaven Shall Burn in 2025 dedicated the song A Whisper From Above to her.
Works
Works
* *

Maple tree in memory of Irena Gut Opdyke, Righteous Among the Nations, Piekary Śląskie, Poland. Memory plaque. Irena Gut Opdyke. Polish woman. Righteous Among the Nations. She saved a dozen (17) Jews during World War II during the German occupation of Poland 1939-1945. Film summary of the project "Testimony of humanity during the Holocaust. The story of Irena Gut-Opdyke" implemented by the Municip
Biblioteka Piekary Śląskie / Mateusz Żywulski · Świadectwo człowieczeństwa w czasie zagłady. Historia Ireny Gut-Opdyke Film dostępny na licencji: Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa (CC BY)

Irena Gut Opdyke. Polish woman. Righteous Among the Nations. She saved a dozen (17) Jews during World War II during the German occupation of Poland 1939-1945. Film summary of the project "Testimony of humanity during the Holocaust. The story of Irena Gut-Opdyke" implemented by the Municipal Public Library, named after "Teodor Heneczek" in Piekary Śląskie in 2022. The project is a form of commemora
Biblioteka Piekary Śląskie / Mateusz Żywulski · Świadectwo człowieczeństwa w czasie zagłady. Historia Ireny Gut-Opdyke. Biblioteka Piekary Śląskie Film dostępny na licencji: Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa (CC BY)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1922
Irene Gut Opdyke born at Kozienice.
2003
Irene Gut Opdyke died at Fullerton.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Kozienice.
Birth place
Fullerton.
Death place
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Anton, Mike. Irene Opdyke, 85; Hid Jews in Poland During the Holocaust. Los Angeles Times. 21 May 2003.
- 2.Irene Gut Opdyke. The Times. 28 May 2003.
- 3.Jensen, Joyce. In Her Hands by Irene Opdyke. International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
- 4.Opdyke, Irene Gut. In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer. Anchor Books, a division of Random House. 190. April 2001. 9780385720328.
- 5.Story of Rescue - Gut- Opdyke Irena Polscy Sprawiedliwi. sprawiedliwi.org.pl.
- 6.Nazi officer's mistress risked her life to save Jews. Sydney Morning Herald. 30 May 2003.
- 7.Anton, Mike. Irene Opdyke, 85; Hid Jews in Poland During the Holocaust. Los Angeles Times. 21 May 2003.
- 8.Opdyke, Irene. The Zekelman Holocaust Center.
- 9.Gut Opdyke Irena. Yad Vashem.
- 10.Haycox, Lori. Pope recognizes Yorba Linda woman's WWII sacrifice. The Orange County Register. 10 June 1995.
- 11.Irene Gut Opdyke interview. ACHUKA.
- 12.Irene Gut Opdyke- Polish Rescuer & Hero. 10 June 1998.
- 13.A Nazi officer's housekeeper hid 12 Jews in the basement. All of them made it out alive. NBC News. 2022-01-28.
- 14.Schapiro, Rich. A Nazi officer's housekeeper hid 12 Jews in the basement. All of them made it out alive. NBC News. 28 January 2022.
- 15.Snyder, Donald. Roman Haller and his zeide: How a Jewish couple took in the Wehrmacht officer who hid them. The Jerusalem Post. 3 September 2009.
- 16.Armstrong, Jennifer. Harder Books. Jennifer Armstrong's Books. Random House.
- 17.Dodson, Marcida. Holocaust Rescuer Says She Was 'Predestined'. Los Angeles Times. 9 June 1998.
- 18.Zoglin, Richard. What's Wrong with this Spring's Broadway Plays. Time. 6 April 2009.
- 19.Irena's Vow.
- 20.Cox, Gordon. 'Irena's Vow' to close on June 28: Broadway play was struggling to find audience. Variety. 16 June 2009.
- 21.Kay, Jeremy. Sophie Nélisse, Dougray Scott to star in Quiver's wartime drama 'Irena's Vow', as WestEnd launches sales. Screen Daily. 9 May 2022.
- 22.Marosi, Richard. Holocaust Heroine Is Satisfied With Accord. Los Angeles Times. 12 April 2000.
- 23.Official music video for Mała little Flower by Katy Carr. YouTube. 29 December 2012.
- 24.Katy Carr – Mała Little Flower. Polskie Radio. 26 September 2012.
- 25.Heaven Shall Burn, Heimat, CD, Century Media Dortmund 2025, p. 20
- 26.YouTube: HEIMAT Track by Track with Maik Weichert In the interview song writer and guitarist Maik Weichert speaks about the creation process of the song, Retrieved February 26 2026
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
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Those registers additionally record the forms Irene Gut Opdyke, 1922-2003, Irène Gut Opdyke, 1922- and Irene Gut Opdyke, 1921-.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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