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Irena's Vow tickets will bring you the true-life story of Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish Catholic woman who defied her circumstances and for many years was one of the unsung heroines of World War II. This is a new play by playwright Dan Gordon, who has created according to the New York Blade a "...heroic and moving yet morally complex WWII play..." It is a story of tragedy, romance and bravery in rising above the odds to stay to true to what you believe, despite impossible circumstances.
The playwright herself plays the part of Polish native Irena, whose life is the central theme of the story. Irena was born on May 15, 1918 in the town of Kozienice in Poland, where she grew up and eventually studied nursing. Her life was forever changed when Germany began bombing her city and she fled with the rest of the medical staff to a local hospital, where they helped the injured. She suffered incredible cruelty at the hands of Russian soldiers, who were then occupying the city, but she did not let this quell her spirit, and eventually joined the Polish resistance.
She was again caught, this time by the Germans when they took over the city, and still she did not let herself become overwhelmed by her circumstances. When she was assigned as a housekeeper to a German officer, Irena took advantage of the situation to harbor Jews in the officer's own villa and provided them with food and clothing without regard to the danger this could have put her in. During the war she lost both
parents and a fiance, the leader of the partisans who was killed attacking a German convoy.
The love story between Irena and the man she eventually married, Wiliam Opdyke, is a charming one and a delight in the life of a woman who suffered during the war. Opdyke was the UN delegate who arranged for Irena to immigrate to the US. They were eventually able to renew their acquaintance after she settled in Brooklyn, where they fell in love and married. They settled in Yorba Linda, California, where Irena became an interior decorator.
Irena did not tell her story until many years later, in 1982, when she became aware that there were many people who doubted that the Holocaust ever happened. She started by telling her story in schools, in order to educate people as to the nature of the Holocaust. She was eventually named Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli Holocaust Commision, a title given to gentiles who risked their lives in order to save Jews during that period of history.
Though she has not gained the recognition of some more famous persons such as Jan Karski and Irena Sendler, Irena Gut Opdyke is becoming increasingly celebrated and admired today. This play about her life stars Tovah Feldshuh and has received four stars from the New York Times as well as many other rave reviews, so when it opens on Broadway in March it is certain to sell out fast. However, you can get tickets today, in order to make sure you get a seat for this beautifully historic event.
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