Books
In My Hands:
Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer
By Irene Gut Opdyke with Jennifer Armstrong
At seventeen, she chose action over apathy. Twelve lives depended on it.
Irene’s story was told on Broadway in 2008 and was made into a major motion picture in 2024: Irena’s Vow.
When war tears through Poland, student nurse Irene Gut is thrust into a world where every choice has a cost. Assigned to work in a German officers’ dining hall, she hears whispers of raids and routes—intel that could mean life or death. Step by step, Irene moves from smuggling scraps of food to sheltering human beings, transforming an ordinary young woman into an extraordinary rescuer. Told with the urgency of a thriller and the intimacy of a diary, In My Hands reveals how conviction is forged and courage becomes contagious—often in hidden rooms and split-second decisions. It’s a story that refuses to look away—and refuses to let you.
“No matter how many Holocaust stories one has read, this one is a must, for its impact is so powerful.” — School Library Journal (starred)
A publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
An ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults
A PEN USA West Award Finalist
Irene’s Daughter
By Jeannie Opdyke Smith
What does it mean to inherit a story of courage—and live it out in ordinary life?
The world knows the rescuer. Few know what came after. In Irene’s Daughter, Jeannie Opdyke Smith invites readers behind the curtain of a legendary story—into family rooms and green rooms, classrooms and quiet hospital corridors—where legacy is less about headlines and more about daily choices.
With warmth, wit, and unflinching honesty, Jeannie explores the weight and gift of being raised by a woman who hid twelve Jews during the Holocaust, and what it looks like to carry that light into today’s fractured world. This is not just a memoir about the past; it’s a field guide for ordinary bravery, forgiveness that costs something, and hope that refuses to quit.
coming soon
The Other Side of Thirst