The Institute of National Remembrance has funded a statue to Irena Sendler in Great Britain

On 26 June 2021 (Saturday), a statue commemorating Irena Sendler was unveiled at Newark’s Fountain Gardens. The originator of this initiative was the British sculptor Andrew Lilley, who found the warm support of the Polish Ambassador, Arkady Rzegocki, Ph.D. D.Sc. The President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Jarosław Szarek, Ph.D. decided, at his request, to finance the casting of the monument by the Institute of National Remembrance. The Polish Cultural Institute in London, Newark and Sherwood District Council and Newark Town Council also joined the initiative. Thanks to this, Newark-on-Trent became even more closely associated with the commemoration of Polish history. The largest Polish war cemetery is located in this town. The Presidents of the Republic of Poland-in-exile were buried there.

Andrew Lilley, a British sculptor, author of both historical and commercial sculptures that can be found all over the world, created a sculpture of Irena Sendler, fascinated by the history of her life. The realistic work depicts the protagonist at the moment of escorting two children from the ghetto. The commemoration initiative was supported by Arkady Rzegocki, Ph.D. D.Sc. , Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The President of the IPN, Jarosław Szarek, Ph.D. without hesitation, responded positively to the request to support the commemoration of Irena Sendler, who heroically engaged in helping Jews during World War II and saved about 2,500 Polish children of Jewish descent from death by placing them in Polish families, nun convents and orphanages. The Institute of National Remembrance financed the casting of the bronze statue. The Polish Cultural Institute in London, in charge of the transport and assembly of the sculpture, was also involved in the project. The statue will sit near the largest Polish war cemetery in Great Britain, where 440 soldiers of the Polish Army are buried, including over 350 airmen, and three Polish Presidents-in-exile: Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski and Stanisław Ostrowski.

If the Talmud says that whoever saves one life saves the world entire - then Irena Sendler saved not one, but two and a half thousand worlds. It’s a universe of lives saved in the big black season of dying. She saved the children, and they hide within themselves the world that is waiting for them - just like a bud - to develop and flourish, a world that they will develop as they grow and become adults. So saving a child is like saving the world twice: the real world of childhood and the potential world of adulthood, of children and grandchildren who will be born. To save a child is to save the continuity of generations.

(Jacek Leociak, Around the book about Irena Sendler)