Irena Kirkland, Widow of Lane Kirkland and Fighter for Human Rights

Always an activist, Irena Kirkland joined in an AFL-CIO phone bank during the 2004 election.

The union and international human rights movements are mourning the loss of Irena Kirkland, widow of AFL-CIO President Emeritus Lane Kirkland and a major fighter for democracy and freedom in her own right.

Mrs. Kirkland died early Wednesday at the age of 81. For 22 years, Mrs. Kirkland was a familiar figure in the union movement. After her husband’s death in 1999, she was instrumental in the creation of the National Labor College’s Lane Kirkland Center, which opened its doors late last year.

Noting that Mrs. Kirkland “was a compelling figure in her own right in the struggle against authoritarianism in every form,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says even though she was a witness to some of the greatest atrocities in human history,

Irena Kirkland’s commitment to human dignity and freedom never wavered. Everyone who knew her as a friend and colleague in some of the noblest struggles of this generation will miss her deeply.

AFL-CIO President Emeritus Tom Donahue praised Mrs. Kirkland for her “enormous interest in people, politics, and world affairs.

Given her personal background, she was dedicated to the struggle against dictatorships of the right or left, and against any ideology which opposed personal freedom.

As a Jew in Prague during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, she was thrown out of school, transported along with her twin sister to Auschwitz and narrowly escaped the gas chambers. A few years later, the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia expelled her from the university, arrested her and interrogated her in the presence of a Soviet officer. Soon afterward, however, she was allowed to immigrate to Israel.

After living in London and Paris, she moved to the United States, where she married Lane Kirkland in 1973. As a survivor of two oppressive totalitarian regimes, Mrs. Kirkland  dedicated her life to upholding human freedoms and to helping the victims of  totalitarianism and war.

Last week, the Czech Republic awarded Irena Kirkalnd its Gratias Agit Award, the highest honor given by the Czech Foreign Ministry, for promoting the good name of the Czech Republic abroad.

In 1981, recognizing Mrs. Kirkland’s personal contributions to mobilizing support for the Polish workers’ Solidarity movement, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) presented her its Freedom Award. She also joined the IRC Board and went on to become a forceful advocate for refugees throughout the world.

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