Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project

The concept of identity recurs throughout the book in a variety of ways. The girls all question their own identity in one way or another; Liz, especially, questions her identity through Irena’s story in relation to her mother. Identity is also at the center of the events of the war, represented through the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis against certain identities as well as metonymically through the Kennkarte papers used to gain freedom at the cost of sacrificing one’s own identity. Stefan, for example, represents an interesting case of identity. He was born Jewish, but his parents converted to Christianity at an early age, yet for the Nazis, he was still Jewish. Purchased Kennkarte papers and a new identity, however, allow him to become Aryan once again. Most important is the role identity plays in Irena’s project. Irena Schultz believes that record-keeping is too unnecessarily risky, but Irena and Jaga insist on keeping track of the children’s identities. They believe the children’s original Jewish names to be not only a link to their original families, but an integral part of who they are.