Janusz Korczak

(Henryk Goldszmit)

1878 – 1942

• Biography
• Janusz Korczak and Ukraine
• Bibliography of publications
• Sculptures and graphics
• Film and photo documents
• Janusz Korczak societies
• Full-text documents
• Perpetuation of his memory

According to the resolution adopted on 16 September 2011, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland declared 2012 the Year of Janusz Korczak marking the 100th anniversary of the Orphanage established by him in Warsaw and the 70th anniversary of his and his pupils’ tragic death in the Treblinka Nazi extermination camp.

Being a physician by profession, Janusz Korczak (Henryk Goldszmit, 1878 – 1942) was one of the outstanding figures of pedagogy, journalist, writer, and teacher. He loved children very much and wrote books for them.

Everybody knows about the sacrificial action made by the teacher who died together with children and for the sake of them. This action done by the Polish pedagogue is considered to be the highest demonstration of love and support for children during the difficult moments of their short lives.

He worked very hard at children’s camps, Orphanage, and Our House boarding school in Warsaw. Children from the streets, deprived and destitute, found shelter in these establishments. Being a children’s doctor, Janusz Korczak became a talented pedagogue, tactful teacher, and children’s friend.

He considered a child to be a person of full value. He stated that the main task of education is free and harmonious development of child’s abilities and good features encouraging child for self-knowledge, self-esteem, and self-improvement.

These ideas were described in Janusz Korczak’s belles-lettres books, publicistic papers, pedagogical books and various articles published in periodicals. He wrote more than 20 pedagogical books, and the most well-known is Jak kochać dziecko (How to love a child). The pedagogue stated that “A child is a person first of all, and an attentive teacher should study him, respect and trust him”.

The Polish pedagogue’s thoughts influenced the development of educational ideas all over the world. The Korczak international movement started many years ago, and now it covers all continents of the world. The societies of the Polish humanist’s disciples function in almost every country.

Janusz Korczak’s ideas influenced the national pedagogues. N. K. Krupska paid great attention to them and recommended other pedagogues to read Janusz Korczak’s books. A. S. Makarenko also was familiar with his pedagogical oeuvre. V. O. Sukhomlynskyi was greatly impressed by the Polish pedagogue’s figure and his works; he considered Korczak to be “a national hero of the Polish people” and “a man of extraordinary moral beauty”, and his works to be “a precept for the whole life”.