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May 2, 2008
Reviving a hero's philosophies
Organization fights to keep memory of Jewish philosopher, educator and humanitarian, Janusz Korczak, alive.
RON FRIEDMAN
"I was three times born, once in beautiful Krakow, second time in eretz Israel – when I came and tried to be like a Sabra – and a third time when I began to write," said Miriam Akavia, a Polish-born author whose books have been translated to 11 languages. She was recently in Vancouver as a guest of the Janusz Korczak Association, to speak about the Holocaust and Israel's 60th anniversary.
Akavia was born in 1927. During the Second World War, she was interned in the Krakow Ghetto, Plaszow, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. In 1946, at 17, she immigrated to what would become Israel, where she has lived ever since. Akavia published her first book, An End to Childhood, in 1975. It tells the story of Yurik, the author's brother, who did not survive the Holocaust.
Since 1978, Akavia has been one of hundreds of volunteer activists taking part in the international Janusz Korczak Association, a group dedicated to keeping alive the memory and legacy of the Jewish educator. In that year, a century after the birth of Korczak, some of his students, those who managed to survive the death camps and make it to Israel and the West, appealed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to declare it Janusz Korczak Year.
The association has grown to include branches in more than 30 countries, the active ones being in Israel, Poland, Russia, Switzerland and Germany, but which also includes groups in countries such as Turkey, India and Vietnam. These associations are mixed Jewish and non-Jewish.
"In the constitution of the association, it is determined that it is not strictly a Jewish organization. The association is open to everybody, from all religions, professions, etc.... Anyone who is ready to fight for children's causes is welcome to join," said Olga Medvedeva, founder of the Janusz Korczak Association in Canada. "Holocaust remembrance is one of the tasks [of the association], but children's right and children's defence is the main cause."
Korczak was born Henrik Goldschmidt in Warsaw on July 22, 1878. He chose the name Janusz Korczak as a pseudonym when he entered a writing competition. The name originated from the book Janusz Korczak and the Pretty Swordsweeperlady by Józef Ignacy. He was educated in what was known as "the Flying University," an underground educational enterprise that operated from 1885 to 1905 in Warsaw when the city was under the control of the Russian Empire. Korczak later studied medicine at the University of Warsaw and graduated as a pediatrician.
In 1912, Korczak established a Jewish orphanage, Dom Sierot, which he designed to advance his educational theories. Korczak's philosophy maintained that children's feelings deserved serious consideration and respect. He envisioned a world in which children structured their own world and became experts in their own matters. The system he designed was called How to Love a Child, and it included ideas like a children's parliament and newspapers run entirely by children, about children, for children. "Introducing such things, even today, would be considered progressive," said Jerry Nussbaum, president of the Canadian Janusz Korczak Association.
Korczak seriously considered leaving Poland for the land of Israel, but thought he couldn't reach an adequate proficiency in Hebrew to maintain his academic writing. He also didn't want to leave the children in his orphanage.
"Korczak visited twice in eretz Israel [in 1934 and 1936] and, when he was there, he helped both Jewish and Arab children and tried to bring understanding between the people living there," said Akavia.
Korczak's reputation grew and he was asked by the Polish authorities to open an orphanage for non-Jewish children. He also delivered regular talks on Polish radio, where he became known affectionately as the "Old Doctor." Korczak became one of the most popular figures in Poland.
In 1939, when the Second World War erupted, Korczak volunteered for duty in the Polish army but was refused due to his age. When the Germans created the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940, the orphanage was moved inside. Korczak received many offers to be smuggled out of the ghetto, but he refused because he did not want to abandon the children. On Aug. 5, 1942, Korczak joined nearly 200 children and orphanage staff members who were rounded up for deportation to Treblinka, where they were all put to death.
Many recognize Korczak as the first champion of children's rights. "He was the first man in the world to formulate these rights," said Medvedeva. According to her, the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child Convention, written in 1924, was based on Korczak's work and, since then, the wording of the convention has been used in other, similar declarations by the United Nations.
While the official mandate of the Janusz Korczak Association is to implement Korczak's ideas regarding child development and education into the mainstream, members say that it has been difficult for them to take action. "Unfortunately, we have not managed to work with children here, because nobody really knows anything about Janusz Korczak," said Medvedeva. "When Jerry [Nussbaum], who is our president, talked to school boards to try to implement his ideas in the educational process, they just didn't know anything." Therefore, the association's aim has changed from implementation to introduction, in the hope that once they popularize Korczak's name and background, people will become more receptive to acting on his theories.
To that end, the association, based in Vancouver, has been active in bringing speakers, such as Akavia, and organizing events.
In 2005, the association organized an exhibit, hosted by the Vancouver Public Library, titled My World and I, a collection of drawings and paintings by children from all over the world. They also participated in organizing an exhibit called Janusz Korczak and the Children of the Ghetto, together with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
This year, Akavia gave three talks in Vancouver. The first was in the VHEC, for Korczakians and people already familiar with his life and works, called My Life and My Books in the Shadow of the Holocaust. The second was for members of Bridge, an association of Jews from Russia, titled Our Israel, and it took place at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture. The third lecture was Pain of Two Motherlands, about Israeli literature and the relationship between Poland and Israel; it was given before members of the Polish Canadian Foundation. Altogether, approximately 250 people attended the lectures.
"We invited Miriam here because it is the 60th anniversary of Israel," said Medvedeva. "We had decided to invite someone and the first name that came to mind was hers because she was a Holocaust survivor and came to Israel in 1946, so she was a witness of the establishment of the country from its birth to this day."
Akavia has travelled extensively, including recently in Poland, where she helped establish the Jewish Cultural Festival in Krakow, a yearlong event that facilitates cultural exchanges between Israel and Poland. She was also in Istanbul and, later this year, will be going to Copenhagen. Akavia is the founder and president of Platform for Jewish-Polish Dialogue, organizing meetings with teenagers of both countries.
As for the future, members of the Canadian Janusz Korczak Association are already planning for next year. They hope to bring to Vancouver a group of students from Kansas who have put together a performance commemorating Irena Sendler, a Holocaust heroine, who saved Jewish children in the Warsaw Ghetto. The performance, called Life in a Jar, tells the story of how the Catholic social worker was able to rescue 2,500 children and find homes for them with Polish families. The show's name comes from Sendler's custom of putting the name and address of each child in a glass bottle or jar and burying it in her yard, so that one day their true identities would be uncovered. Sendler was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
For more information about Korczak or the Canadian Janusz Korczak Association, call 604-733-6386 or e-mail [email protected].
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