Heart rending and inspiring in equal measure.
This book has many levels – on the first it is an account of the work of Dr Korczak in terms of his approach to the care of children. Linked to this is the story of the orphan ages that he ran both pre- war and during the German occupation of Warsaw. Added to this is the story of the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw and how this came to be liquidated in the early days of August 1942. This liquidation included the transporting of all orphanage children to Treblinka to be gassed. This makes for powerful reading not just in terms of the final outcome but also the attempts by many people within and outwith the ghetto to try to protect the children.
At another level it is the story of how Polish Jews once part of the mainstream of Warsaw society came to be excluded by a nationalist government prior to the invasion by Germany. This effectively prohibited Dr Korczak and others from teaching Polish students and restricted them to teaching other Jews. For Korczak who was a national celebrity this came as quite a shock especially as he had fought with the Polish Army. It also in many ways made him resistant to the idea that the German occupation would be different from the previous occupations by Germany and by Russia.
The book is also a story about Misha and Sophia and how they were among the very few to escape from and to survive life in the ghetto and how they both came to work for the post war Polish government.
I found this book fascinating both for the human story of the adults and also that of the children and the approach based on respect for the individual that Korczak adopted with each child to reach out to them and to get to know them as individuals. I also learnt a lot about the history of Poland not least the difference between the rising of the ghetto and the later rising of Warsaw as a whole.
This is a book that I would urge others to read as it also about the will to survive and endure in extreme circumstances.
At another level it is the story of how Polish Jews once part of the mainstream of Warsaw society came to be excluded by a nationalist government prior to the invasion by Germany. This effectively prohibited Dr Korczak and others from teaching Polish students and restricted them to teaching other Jews. For Korczak who was a national celebrity this came as quite a shock especially as he had fought with the Polish Army. It also in many ways made him resistant to the idea that the German occupation would be different from the previous occupations by Germany and by Russia.
The book is also a story about Misha and Sophia and how they were among the very few to escape from and to survive life in the ghetto and how they both came to work for the post war Polish government.
I found this book fascinating both for the human story of the adults and also that of the children and the approach based on respect for the individual that Korczak adopted with each child to reach out to them and to get to know them as individuals. I also learnt a lot about the history of Poland not least the difference between the rising of the ghetto and the later rising of Warsaw as a whole.
This is a book that I would urge others to read as it also about the will to survive and endure in extreme circumstances.