Irene Gut Opdyke
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Irene Gut Opdyke (May 5, 1918 - May 17, 2003), born in Kozienice, Poland, was a nurse who, after being released from a concentration camp herself, rescued twelve Jews. Gut hid half of them in the forests, (as regularly as she could) brought them food and supplies. The other six she hid in the villa of a Nazi officer who had requisitioned her as his servant. The officer eventually discovered the two women refugees, but could not report them for fear of incriminating himself; however, in exchange, he insisted that Gut become his mistress.
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[edit] Heroism Recognized
She was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations in 1982.
[edit] Preserving her Story
Opdyke's autobiography, In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer, was published in 1999 with the help of Alan Boinus, her manager at the time who helped secure her publisher Random House and co-author Jennifer Armstrong[1][2].
Later, Opdyke's story became the subject of a lawsuit in 1998 when Opdyke tried to re-gain the rights to tell the "authorized" account of her life story, which she had previously assigned in a lawful motion picture option agreement. Notable copyright attorney Carole Handler represented Opdyke and worked with the parties to reach an agreement. The case was eventually dismissed with prejudice[3]. In an ironic twist, after the trial, all parties agreed that the promoter did "nothing wrong." Mrs. Opdyke publicly acknowledged the promoter who she sued by thanking him in her book, “In My Hands” and agreed to give him a producer credit for the eventual "authorized" motion picture about her life story.
In May 2007, her story - in play format - “In My Hands”, written by Dan Gordon, starring Tovah Feldshuh premiered in New York City.
[edit] References
- ^ Random House Website
- ^ Armstrong's Website
- ^ The Los Angeles Times, Holocaust Heroine Is Satisfied With Accord, April 12, 2000
