Janusz Korczak (1878 or 1879 - 1942) was a Polish author, educator, and social worker from Warsaw. Born Henryk Goldszmidt, he grew up in a wealthy Polish family. He became a physician and was interested in helping the poor. Korczak's book, Children of the Street, described the horrors of homeless orphans who used street smart skills to survive. Because of his dedication to homeless children, he became head of a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw, a position he kept for the rest of his life (1).

Korczak believed that the welfare of children would bring a better future for all mankind. He felt that modern parents regarded children as worthless and senseless creatures who distracted adults from productive work. He felt parents were putting their own pleasures ahead of the needs of their children (2).

He published a children's book called King Matt the First in 1923. Under King Matt's leadership, the children ran the country while the adults went to school. The book teaches children that having strong faith in their own ideals is not enough to build a better world. The children discover that change is not necessarily for the better, and that a lawless society, void of all rules whatsoever, benefits no one. In his second book, King Matt on the Desert Island, King Matt reflects on his disappointments and realizes that although he cannot change the past, he can improve his future and influence others to do the same (2).

Korczak visited Palestine (Israel) many times and contemplated settling there. Compared to Poland, a life in Israel seemed more comfortable and secure. In spite of this, he returned to Poland because he did not want to leave the orphans in the Warsaw orphanage by themselves during troubled times. He felt this would be heartless and disloyal to all the children. Soon after he returned to Poland, the Germans invaded and Korczak was forced to relocate the orphans to the Warsaw ghetto (2).

The Nazis came in 1942 to take the children to Treblinka. One of the orphans carried a green flag, symbolizing King Matt. The group of 200 children sang as they marched away. Korczak walked at the head of the group, even though he was weak and had been ill. The group was crowded together into the train as it pulled away to a concentration camp. Korczak never left his children (3).

(1) "Korczak, Janusz." Encycolopedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 12. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 305-306.

(2) Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.

(3) "Janusz Korczak." People of the Holocaust. U*X*L, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.