2. The Year 2012 was decl ar ed by t he Pol i s h
Par l i ament
t he Year of Janus z Kor cz ak
„There are no
children
There are people”
Janusz Korczak
3. A doctor. A writer. An educator.A doctor. A writer. An educator.
4. Korczak wrote over 20 books and published over 1400Korczak wrote over 20 books and published over 1400
texts.texts.
5. Janusz Korczak – an educatorJanusz Korczak – an educator
Advocate, spokesman,
protector of childrens
rights.
Researcher and discoverer of
the world of children.
„It is not that a child
will become
a human being,
he is one already”
Janusz Korczak
6. Janusz Korczak – an educatorJanusz Korczak – an educator
Creator of progressive orphanages
He organised care centres in which
the children lived on equall rights and duties as grown ups.
They had their own court and parliament.
7. "The lives of great men
are like legends-
difficult but beautiful "
„A good educator, who
doesn’t put pressure but
liberates,
doesn’t pull but lifts up
high,
doesn’t crumple but forms,
doesn’t dictate but teaches,
doesn’t demand but asks
– will experience many
inspirational
moments with children”
Janusz Korczak
8. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
Janusz Korczak
was the pen name
of Henryk (Hersz) Goldszmit
born in 1878 or 1879.
He was born in Warsaw,
in a Jewish family,
strongly assimilated in the
polish society.
9. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTHCHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
Henry’s grandfather was a
physician and his father was a
successful attorney.
He lived with his parents Cecylia i
Józef Goldszmit and his older
sister, Anna.
As a rich child he wasn’t allowed
to play with children on the
streets and often often
observed them through the
window, feeling lonely.
He was very close to his
grandmother and he wouls
share with her his dreams of
creating a better world.
10. Childhood and YouthChildhood and Youth
When the boy was eight years
old, he started his education in a
private elementary school famous
of it’s strict rules. The young pupil
was so shaken by the fact that
children were punished by lashing
that his parents removed him
from school. While he was
learning at home and getting
ready to get back to school, he
dreamed of a fair world, free of
cruelty.
We can find the reflection of this
dream in one of his most famous
books: „King Matthew the First”.
11. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTHCHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
Korczak’s father became mentally ill when his
son was eleven.
This was a heavy blow to the family’s financial
situation and a trauma that cast its shadow
over Korczak throughout his life.
When Korczak was abot 19 yeras old, his
father died and his son had to support the
family giving private lessons while finishing
his own education.
As a young doctor he worked very hard,
treating the rich and the poor. He didn’t
take money from the poor.
12. „„Best friend of chldren”Best friend of chldren”
His innoviative views on the
matter of upbringing children
cointained in his publications
made him popular and soon
he became a well-known
pediatrician.
13. Janusza Korczak’s Ideas:Janusza Korczak’s Ideas:
Korczak explicitly demanded
respect for children’s right to
live in peace and happiness. He
reminded that children make
1/3 of the people of the world
and this group HAS to be
concidered by adults.
He popularized a relationship
based on partnership and
responsibility towards children.
14. For 30 years Janusz Korczak directed
an orphanage in Warsaw for jewish
children called Dom Sierot, while co-
directing two other homes for non-
jewish children.
These institutions worked along his
original educational programme.
He was a member of numerous
educational societies, an academy
lecturer, expert in law cases
concerning children.
He had his own radio programme in
which he introduced himself as the
„Old Doctor”.
16. What did the life in theWhat did the life in the
orphanage look like?orphanage look like?
Life in the orphanage was
adjusted to attend the needs of
children – to help them evolve
and in care of their health.
The children, that were taken in to
the institution were
undernourished and unkempt.
They lived in poverty.
17. What did the life in the orphanage look like?What did the life in the orphanage look like?
The system of help for children was thought through precisely.
Even when the functioning of the house wasn’t easy, the children received
regular nutritious meals.
They slept in two spacious rooms.
Nobody could use them during the day – they were aired then.
18. What did the life in theWhat did the life in the
orphanage look like?orphanage look like?
There were prepared
modern bath for the
children. There were
many inovations to help
such an amount of people
live hygienicly, for
instance – there was a
special ladder, so that all
the towels could dry
without touching the
other towels.
The children were
weighed and measured
every week. The results
were analised. The health
and well being of the
youngsters was given into
consideration.
In the evening the carers
read out loud or
summarised movies.
19. What didWhat did
the life inthe life in
thethe
orphanageorphanage
look like?look like?
Every morning, before going to school- there was a group
shoe polishing.
When somebody was new, they had an older child assigned
to present him the rules and to help them feel good in the
new place.
Every child had it’s own drawer for their own treasures.
20. What did the life in theWhat did the life in the
orphanage look like?orphanage look like?
The children took care
of the house along
with adults.
Cleaning tools (like
sweepers, rags) were
displayed on purpose,
because they were
respected.
21. Contract and contactContract and contact
Arguments were dissolved by a
Children’s Court that had
sessions once a week.
It worked on the base of a set of
over a hundred rules.
There were 5 judges picked
randomly from the children that
didn’t have a case in the past
week.
This system worked much better
from the moment when adults
could be sued by children as
well.
22. „„A good man from KrochmalnaA good man from Krochmalna
street"street"
When World War II came in 1939,
Janusz Korczak put on his Polish soldier’s
uniform and never got rid of it although
finding it by the Nazi Germans could
cause repressions.
But he refused to put on the mandatory
band that labeled Jews.
When, in 1940, the orphanage along with
the whole Jewish society was forced by
the Nazi’s to live in the Ghetto,
He was arrested and taken into prison
because of that.
He got out only because of help of friends.
23. „„The father ofThe father of
the children ofthe children of
others”others”
During the occupation-
with effort that exceeded
human capability he
fought for the safety and
maintenance of his
children.
Although he was offered
possibilities of running
away from the Ghetto
and hiding – he refused
beacuse he couldn’t take
the children and staff.
24. About two weeks, before
he led them
with quiet dignity
on that final march
through the ghetto streets
to the train that would
take them to
"resettlement in the East„
-the Nazi euphemism
for the death camp
Treblinka,
the children performed
a play about death
that prepared them
and tamed the subject.
25. The end of the roadThe end of the road
On Thursday 6 August 1942 the
Germans deported Korczak,
his assistants and the two
hundred children, from the
orphanage.
A witness to the orphans three
mile march to the deportation
train described the scene to
the Jewish historian Emanuel
Ringelblum as follows:
“This was not a march to the
railway cars - this was an
organised, wordless protest
against the murder.”
26. The end of the roadThe end of the road
The children marched in rows of
four, with Korczak leading them,
looking straight ahead, and
holding a child’s hand on each
side.
A second column was led by
Stefania Wilczynska,
the third by Broniatowska, her
children carrying blue knapsacks
on their backs,
and the fourth by Sternfeld,
from the boarding school on
Twarda Street.”
Some Germans started asking
„Who is this man?” looking at
Korczak.
27. „„The father of the children of others”The father of the children of others”
Janusz Korczak died
with his children and staff
in the German Nazi
death camp „Treblinka”
propably on the 7th or 8th
of August 1942.
He remains a symbol
of human dignity
and the victory of love,
devotion
and a well lived life
- even in the face of
dehumanizing
terror and death.
28. Michal (Misha) Wroblewski, a teacher who was
the last among the survivors to have seen
Korczak alive. He had been working on the
other side of the wall -at a job Korczak had
managed to find for him- and returned to the
ghetto orphanage late that afternoon to find
everyone gone:
" You know, everyone makes so much of
Korczak´s last decision to go with the children
to the train. But his whole life was made up of
moral decisions. The decision to become a
children´s doctor. The decision to give up
medicine and his writing career to take care of
poor orphans. The decision to go with the
Jewish orphans into the ghetto. As for that
last decision to go with the children to
Treblinka, it was part of his nature. It was who
he was. He wouldn´t understand why we are
making so much of it today. "
