In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

In the first chapter of her memoir, Opdyke says that as a child, she visited the Black Madonna icon and believed that with this Holy Mother as a guardian, “Poland would never fall” (11). How does Irena’s view of religion, and particularly of God’s ability to protect her and her country, shift throughout the memoir? How does religion help and/or hinder Irena in her quest to save lives?

Throughout her memoir, Opdyke returns to the particularly horrific image of a German soldier shooting a Jewish baby. How does Opdyke first present this image, and how does the image change through the memoir? What does this shifting vision illustrate about Irena’s struggle to reconcile and overcome the horrors she’s witnessed?

While working to save Jewish lives, Irena is rarely viewed as a threat by the Germans because she is “only a girl” (124). Furthermore, Irena consciously uses her femininity to get what she needs, considering it “the one power I had” (185). How would Irena’s story differ if she were a young Polish man in the same situation? Would a man have been able to accomplish the same feats Irena does? In what ways does Irena’s status as a young, pretty girl help her throughout the memoir, and in what ways does it hold her back?

When Irena becomes Major Rügemer’s mistress in order to save her Jewish friends, she considers doing so a fate “worse than rape” (215). Compare and contrast Irena’s experience with the major to her actual rape by Russian soldiers at the beginning of the memoir. How does Irena’s perception of the two events differ? How do these two events influence the idea of free will in the book?

Birds function as an important symbol throughout In My Hands. Why do you think the author chose this particular symbol as opposed to, for instance, a different type of animal? How does Opdyke employ bird imagery throughout the memoir, and what does it add to her story?

Discussing becoming a “resistance fighter,” Irena says that “one’s first steps are always small” (143). What small steps lead Irena to become a person who will sacrifice her own safety to save others? Do other characters take similar “small steps” throughout the memoir, and if so, what are they? Do these small actions have an ultimate impact on the course of the war?

Irena feels an extraordinary sense of responsibility to save others, saying at one point that rescuing the Jewish workers is “all up to me” (153). What events early in Irena’s life, and once the war began, led her to develop this viewpoint? Where else in the memoir does she show this sense of deep responsibility? Are her feelings justified?

Throughout the memoir, Irena sometimes feels that she is utterly alone, for she has “lost my family in order to care for my friends” (240). Do you agree with Irena’s assessment that she is “alone”? From what sources does Irena receive emotional support and connection throughout her journey? Did Irena have a choice in the way her relationship with her family develops throughout the war, and if so, what could she have done differently? How does Irena honor her family through the writing of this memoir?