August 5 1942 – 22 Av 5702
Janusz Korczak and his pupils from the Jewish orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto were sent to their deaths in Treblinka. The elderly Korczak was a world-famous educator, but his personal sacrifice in accompanying his charges when he could have remained behind (he was exempted from the deportation order) has made him one of the best-remembered victims of the Holocaust.
A doctor, author, publicist and social activist in addition to his role as educator, the Jewish Polish Korczak was born Heinrich Goldschmidt in Warsaw in 1878. Janusz Korczak was his pen-name, under which his research on children’s moral, physical and psychological development, and his insistence on children’s rights as an essential part of their education made him a sought-after lecturer and resource.
Korczak also visited Mandate Palestine, and considered moving, only to decide that his work was more effective with the children of Warsaw.