The whole world knows about Oskar Schindler, the World War II industrialist whose story was told in the 1993 film âÂÂSchindlerâÂÂs List.âÂÂ

And yet relatively few people know the name Irena Sendler, or are familiar with what she did during the Holocaust.

ThatâÂÂs something that a group of Uniontown High School students are working to change.

The method theyâÂÂre using to accomplish their goal is an 18-minute play called âÂÂThe Holocaust and Life in a Jarâ and a documentary the students made about SendlerâÂÂs efforts to save Jews during the war years.

The students have performed âÂÂLife in a Jarâ in cities and towns across Kansas, Washington, D.C., New York City and Warsaw, Poland. Their presentation, and the story of how it came to be, has captured national and international attention in newspapers, magazines, on radio and television.

Now the students from Uniontown, about two hours south of the Kansas City area, are bringing their play and documentary to Lawrence. âÂÂLife in a Jarâ will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium at Central Junior High School, 1400 Mass.

âÂÂItâÂÂs overwhelming. I never imagined it would go so far. I just thought it would be a one-year project for National History Day,â said Elizabeth Cambers, 18, one of the original group of four girls from Uniontown High School who created âÂÂLife in a Jar.âÂÂ

âÂÂI just know that weâÂÂve helped get IrenaâÂÂs story out. ThatâÂÂs what was needed.âÂÂ

Risked her life

âÂÂLife in a Jarâ grew out of a decision made by the four girls in 1999 to focus their national history contest project on the Holocaust.

Searching through books and magazines for a specific idea, a 1994 U.S. News & World Report article caught their attention. It was about the âÂÂother Schindlers,â or people who, like the main character in the film âÂÂSchindlerâÂÂs List,â saved Jews in World War II.

On the roster was a woman named Irena Sendler, who was credited with saving 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto. Schindler is thought to have rescued about 1,200 people.

Yet it seemed to the girls, and their social studies teacher, Norman Conard, that few people had ever heard of Sendler.

Together, they decided to start a project that would try to uncover the story of this Polish Catholic woman, hoping to learn how and why one person was able to save so many people.

In the course of their research, the girls were thrilled to learn that Sendler was still alive and living in Warsaw. She is now 92.

They traded letters with her, translated by a graduate student, and eventually were able to write a dramatic presentation based upon her life.

During the Holocaust, Sendler was a member of Zegota, a Polish underground group whose purpose was to save Jews from the Germans occupying Poland. At the risk of her life, Sendler personally smuggled 400 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto and helped to arrange the rescue of a total of 2,500 children from certain death.

The children were given new identities and adopted by Christian families, who also faced execution if the Germans found out what they had done.

Sendler wrote down each childâÂÂs real name on pieces of paper and buried them in a glass jar next to an apple near her home.

In 1943, Sendler was captured and tortured by the Germans, who broke her arms and legs. They demanded the list of children, but she refused.

Zegota bribed a guard to rescue her, and Sendler went into hiding until the end of the war.

âÂÂ’Did what I had to doâÂÂ

The four girls who collaborated on âÂÂLife in a Jarâ are: Cambers, a senior; Megan Stewart, 17, a senior; Janice Underwood, 17, a junior; and Sabrina Coons, 19, now a sophomore at Fort Scott Community College.

After the girls had performed the play in the Kansas City area, members of the cityâÂÂs Jewish community were so moved by it that they decided to raise enough money to send the girls and their teacher to Warsaw to meet Sendler.

The group has now made two trips to Poland, where they spent time with Sendler, as well as meeting some of the people whom she saved nearly 60 years ago.

The story behind âÂÂLife in a Jarâ has been picked up by CNN, USA Today and other media outlets in the United States. The trips the girls made to Poland were also widely covered in that country, including a story by the Associated Press.

What started as a short play has now become an ongoing project involving 17 students at Uniontown High School. They are continuing to research SendlerâÂÂs story and share it with wider audiences.

âÂÂI hope people will come to see it (in Lawrence). ItâÂÂs a different experience, not like any other school play youâÂÂve been to,â Cambers said.

Writing âÂÂLife in a Jarâ has changed the lives of the young Kansans, she added.

âÂÂI told Irena, âÂÂ’YouâÂÂre my hero.â She said, âÂÂ’IâÂÂm not a hero. I just did what I had to do.âÂÂâÂÂ