Janusz Korczak’s Children

the long version

In the years between WWI and WWII, young Henryk Goldszmidt dreamed of creating a better world for children. As an adult, using the pen name Janusz Korczak, he became a writer, doctor, and an enlightened leader in the field of education, unaware to what use his skills were destined to be put. Dr. Korczak established a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw where he introduced the world to his progressive ideas in child development and children’s rights. When the Nazis occupy Warsaw, the orphanage is moved to the ghetto, and when the 200 children in his care are deported, Dr. Korczak famously refuses to be saved, marching with his charges to the train that will take them to their deaths. This biography of Janusz Korczak is a chapter book for elementary school readers and has full color illustrations