Janusz Korczak, (born Henryk Goldszmit; 1878 or 1879-1942) was a Polish Jewish doctor, author and educator. Born in Warsaw to an assimilated Jewish family, Korczak dedicated his life to caring for children, particularly orphans. He believed that children should always be listened to and respected, and this belief was reflected in his work. He wrote several books for and about children, and broadcast a children's radio program.
In 1912, Korczak became the director of a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw. Joining him as his deputy was his dedicated companion Stefania "Stefa" Wilczyńska. The two had met three years earlier, and formed a close bond. At the onset of WWI, Korczak was enlisted; Stefania was left to run the orphanage, which had expanded and now housed some 150 children. In 1935, she visited the Land of Israel and lived at Ein Harod until 1939. With the Nazi occupation, the members of Ein Harod arranged for Stefania to leave Poland, but she declined and instead moved to the Warsaw ghetto along with Dr. Korczak and the children.
Korczak first refused to accept the German occupation and heed their regulations (consequently spending time in jail). However, when the Jews of Warsaw were forced to move into a ghetto, Korczak and Wilczyńska refocused their efforts on the children in his orphanage.
"The lack of official barriers between him and the orphans stood out," recalled Moshe Zertal, a member of Hashomer Hatzair in Warsaw, in his memoirs documenting his occasional visits to orphanage. "I saw him sitting naturally on a small study bench next to a boy reading a book. I watched him listen to a lively conversation among children, or cheering them up and directing the "cruel" match among the two contenders who had lost their temper. I saw him many times kissing the hand of a small or weak child, it was like an act of respect and sanctity toward the young child, who is paving his way in the hostile world of the grown-ups."
On 5 August 1942, during a two-month wave of deportations from the ghetto, the Nazis rounded up Korczak, Wilczyńska and the 200 children in their care. They marched in rows to the Umschlagplatz with Korczak in the lead. The two never abandoned their children, even to the very end. Janusz Korczak, Stefa Wilczyńska and the children were sent to Treblinka, where they were all murdered.
To mark 75 years since the murder of Korczak, Wilczyńska and the children, Yad Vashem organized a daylong educational seminar for some 100 members of the Hamahanot Haolim youth movement, as well as a memorial ceremony. During the first part of the day, the participants toured the Yad Vashem campus and discussed educational dilemmas of Jewish communities and individuals during the Holocaust. Afterwards, the students were introduced to the characters of Korczak and Wilczynska; they discussed Korczak's educational curriculum and theories, and examined socio-educational issues facing educators today.
In the spirit of Korczak, who always stressed the need to bestow the same rights upon children as adults, questions were posed of the role of education in the topsy-turvy world of Europe during WWII; a world in which so many children were forced to become adults overnight – a world devoid of the most basic human values. Dr. Na'ama Shik, Director of the International School's e-Learning Department, gave a moving account of the boundless love and dedication that Korczak and Wilczyńska displayed towards the children in their care in the orphanage.
"When we talk about the Holocaust, we are not used to talking or even thinking about love," she stated. "We almost always think of the Shoah from the end – the shooting pits, the gas chambers, the terrible journeys towards them. We think about the hunger, the cold, the horrors, the threats and the loss. We think about the breakdown of solidarity and the uncompromising battle for survival, the desperation, and often the extreme loneliness. But not about love."
"We viewed them as our father and mother," recalled Yitzhak Belfer, a former resident of the Warsaw ghetto orphanage whose story was screened to the participants during the seminar, and was present at the wreath-laying ceremony held at Yad Vashem's Janusz Korczak Square at the end of the day. "A father – who was away for hours from the home, and whose return always excited us greatly; and a mother – who was always with us, every day in the home to cheer us up and tell us off, to encourage us and to remark on our behavior." "She [Stefa] would walk past our beds at night, and cover the children, make sure we had brushed our teeth, worry about our health. In the morning, if someone didn't feel well, they would go to her," recalled Ada Poznanski. "She would worry that the children had eaten. I wasn't a good eater, and so she would come to check if I had eaten and drank."
Following the memorial ceremony, the youths flew dozens of kites in the spirit of Janusz Korczak's unique educational worldview, in order to convey his legacy of respect, love and equality of rights – especially for children.
This article originally appeared in the "Yad Vashem Jerusalem Magazine," volume 84.
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