The Legacy of Dr. Janusz Korczak

Abstract

Perhaps the most fitting way to end a book about Holocaust resistance is via a chapter on stoical moral defiance of the Nazis, which is best represented by the spirit of Dr. Janusz Korczak, a well-known pediatrician in charge of an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto. Although he had repeated offers to leave the Ghetto and flee to the safety of the Aryan side of Warsaw, Korczak denied each opportunity, refusing to abandon the orphans. During the deportations of the Warsaw Jews in August 1942, Korczak led his two hundred children to their unknown destiny, which became the gas chambers of nearby Treblinka. The children, in their best clothing, scrubbed from head to toe, each carrying a small bag of bread and a flask of water, were led to the boarding cattle cars near the Umschlagplatz.¹ Soothed by Korczak’s comforting words, the children, with their inspiring and trustworthy confidant leading the way, never wept and never tried to flee. Korczak surrendered his life to ensure that the children were comforted so that their deaths were not so terrifying. An SS officer pointed to Korczak and asked, “Who is that man?”—a query that has since resonated as a testimony to Korczak’s stature. During the youngsters’ three-mile trek to the trains, “Remember Korczak’s Children” was first heard; the slogan later became a battle cry for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and for the Jewish resistance movement throughout Eastern Europe.