Irene Gut Opdyke

Irene Opdyke (née Irena Gut, 5 May 1922, Kozienice, Poland – 17 May 2003) was a Polish nurse who gained recognition for aiding Jews persecuted by the Nazis during World War II and for saving twelve Jews.

Humanitarian efforts

In 1942, Irena Gut witnessed Nazi soldiers throw a baby into the air and shoot the child dead. During the German occupation, Gut was hired by Major Eduard Rügemer to work in a kitchen of a hotel. She would take food from the hotel and smuggle it to the local ghetto.

Later, she smuggled Jews into the woods and delivered food to them there as well. Rügemer then asked Gut to work as a housekeeper in his villa. She hid 12 Jews in the cellar and each day they would come out and help her clean the house. One day Rügemer found out about the refugees in his house and made a deal with Gut to become his mistress. In 1944, she and several Jews fled until Russian forces occupied Poland. After the war, she made her way to West Germany and then to the United States.

In 1982, she was recognized and honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.