Jeannie Opdyke Smith was 14 years old in 1970 and thought she pretty much knew everything interesting there was to know about her mom. Then, the phone rang. It was a college student who said he was writing a paper
Jeannie Opdyke Smith was 14 years old in 1970 and thought she pretty much knew everything interesting there was to know about her mom.
Then, the phone rang.
It was a college student who said he was writing a paper about reports that some were saying the Holocaust never happened. He was calling random people, he said, to find out their thoughts on the matter.
Irene Gut Opdyke, listened, then talked. She had a lot to say because she was in Poland during World War II. Despite the threat of death, she protected a group of Jewish people from the Germans.
“She was so shocked that people were saying it never happened,” Smith said.
“I remember her hanging up the phone after a good, long time, there were tears rolling down her face,” Smith said.
Irene Gut Opdyke had never told her daughter of what happened, what she endured, what she saw, during the war.
But it was time.
“All these years I’ve allowed evil, I’ve allowed the enemy to win,” Smith recalled her mother saying after that phone call.
That day, and for the rest of her days, Irene Gut Opdyke told the story of her life in Poland when Germany invaded the country. A teenaged Irene, a nursing student, ended up working as a housekeeper for a Wehrmacht officer. And yes, the Holocaust absolutely happened. She was there.
She went on to share her story in hundreds of presentations and wrote a book, “In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer.”
Her life was also made into a Broadway production, “Irena’s Vow.”
Her story included harrowing tales of sneaking 12 Jewish people out of a camp and hiding them in the very home of the German major for whom she worked.
It included a day she went to the store, and along with others, was ordered outside where a gallows had been set up. There, residents were forced to watch the hanging of a family, including two children, who had tried to hide Jewish people.
“Giving a Jew a piece of bread was penalty of death, not just for you, but your family, too,” Smith said.
“Mom said they hung the children first, in front of the parents.”
Irene Gut Opdyke sacrificed much, Smith said, to protect others. When the German major finally discovered that Smith was hiding Jewish people in his home, she agreed to become his mistress so he wouldn’t turn them in.
She never stopped believing good would prevail and her Christian faith gave her strength until the war ended, Smith said.
In 1949, she moved to the United States. When she got to Ellis Island and saw the Statue of Liberty, she vowed to never talk or think about what happened.
“My life starts here, new,” she said.
Despite having no money, knowing no one in America, and unable to speak English, she built a successful life. She landed work in the garment district and found an apartment in New York. She became a top interior decorator.
“She was classy and beautiful and elegant,” Smith said.
When Irene Gut Opdyke passed away in 2003 at the age of 81, she had some 50 speaking engagements scheduled. One asked Smith if she could tell her mother’s story. She said yes. Smith has since traveled the country and gone overseas doing just that.
“It’s a door that got opened up that I never knew existed,” said the Woodland, Wash. resident.
Jeannie Opdyke Smith will speak at Kauai Christian Fellowship in Poipu on Sunday at the 8:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. services, and at the 9:30 a.m. service on Feb. 7 at the North Campus, 4000 Kilauea Road in Kilauea.
“The bottom line is, there’s some amazing stories about love, incredible stories about forgiveness,” Smith said. “The biggest thing, is one person can make a difference. Every day, you have an opportunity to stand up.
“The power of one is incredible.”
