Janusz Korczak

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. The hero that I chose to write about goes by the name of Janusz Korczak. He is one of many that helped save tons of Jewish lives during the horrible times of the Holocaust. He devoted time and effort to make them feel like they are being heard and to make them feel wanted. He was in charge of a whole orphanage full of Jewish kids that had nowhere to go when things got hard. Every day he learned new things about the kids, so he applied what he learned to his teaching techniques. If Korczak wasn't around during this time, all of the kids in the orphanage would have been abandoned and left to die.  

Janusz Korczak Unknown author / [Public Domain] via WikimediaWhen he was put in charge of the orphanage in Poland, he spent everyday with the children that lived there. While he was taking care of them, he started to read to the children and understand how they feel and interact with other people. He then realized that children aren't heard as well as they should be. He knew that they functioned a different way than adults, so you can’t treat them like adults, especially when they are abandoned and put in an orphanage. This is one trait that made Korczak a hero; He understood how to treat those are aren't being treated the way that they should be. He understood the souls of the children and applied that to his teaching styles so that the children could be more interested and interacted while being taught, “Korczak called for an understanding of the emotional life of children and urged that children be respected.”  - Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. This made the lives of the children ten times more desirable  and he showed interest in seeing the positive effect it had on the kids during this time of horror.

  While being the principal of the orphanage, Korczak was given a choice to either stay in the ghetto and live with the children or be given asylum on the other side of the ghetto walls where he would be safe from the Nazi soldiers, “Polish friends of Dr Korczak reported that they went to see him in the ghetto and offered him asylum on the Polish side, but he refused to abandon the children and possibly save himself.” - Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. Being the good Headmaster he is, he chose the hard right over the easy wrong. He knew that his devotion to these children would mean that he would have to make sacrifices in the future. When he refused this offer, the children knew that they could trust him. This trait if devotion is one of the key factors that makes him a hero and an important figure during the Holocaust, “He went with them into the ghetto, although he had been offered refuge on the Aryan side of occupied Warsaw, and spent the last two-odd years of his life protecting them and other orphans from starvation and disease.” - Janusz Korczak Communication - Center. Heroes are devoted to what is better for the community around them and Korczak definitely shows that.

After accepting the responsibility of the the orphans, Korczak strove to help their voices be heard. He helped get the children’s word out by publishing newspaper articles that were written by children. These articles gave the perspective of the children's lives so that the adults reading the article would understand how hard they have it during these times,  “In the late 1920’s, he was able to put into effect his longtime plan to establish a newspaper for children as a weekly, added to the Jewish daily in the Polish language, Nasz Przeglad – it was written by children, who related their experiences and their deepest thoughts.” - Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team.  On top of that, Korczak led a march of children that flooded the streets. He did this to get the word out that the children did not deserve this and that they were fed up with their condition. On Thursday, August 6, 1942 a hundred children, with joined hands, with Korczak up front, marched three miles to protest the murdering of Jews. This shows that he has no hesitation when it comes to the voices of the children. He would do anything to get their voices to be heard and that is another key factor that makes him a hero to this day.

In conclusion, these key traits are what make Janusz Korczak a successful hero. Due to his actions, during the Holocaust, he has saved many lives and that affect people's lives to this day. If Korczak wasn't there, then most of those kids wouldn't have made it through the Holocaust. He got them through starvation and hatred while at the same time making them feel a part of a family. They wouldn't have the chance to create a better life and create a family. He is a devoted hero, not only to the Jewish community, but also to anyone who knows or is related to someone in the Jewish community.