Janusz Korczak: Educator, Diarist and Guardian of Children

Educator and physician

Born Henryk Goldszmit, Korczak became a physician, writer and pioneering educator focused on children’s dignity.

With Stefania Wilczyńska he directed a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw with distinctive educational practices.

After the orphanage was forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, he struggled to obtain food and protection while maintaining routines.

His ghetto diary records illness, deprivation and responsibility as a personal witness text.

In August 1942 the children and staff were deported to Treblinka. Korczak remained with them.

His life should not be reduced only to the final deportation; his prewar pedagogy is equally important.

This page draws on the institutional sources listed below.