To mark 60 years of independence to Israel and 65 years to the Warszawa ghetto uprising, a special educational event will be held in Warszawa commemorating Janusz Korczak and the children of the orphanage who were murdered at the holocaust. The event will take place on Tuesday, April 29th 2008 with the participation of Yuly Tamir, the Minister of Education, the Minister in charge of connecting between the government and the Knesst (the Israeli parliament), Ruhama Avraham, pupils and teachers from Israel, members of youth delegations to Poland and Polish youth.
Janusz Korczak (Henrik Goldschmidt) was a pediatrician, children's books writer, (he published 14 children's books and two reference books on education), an education lecturer at the teacher seminar, a radio presenter of a popular radio program discussing education on the Polish radio, the editor of a children and youth weekly, the founder and operator of an orphanage. Korczak visited Israel twice, in the year 1934 and 1936; he stayed at Kibutz Ein Harod and other places and was personally involved in the development of the communal education practiced at Kibutzim.
Janusz Korczak planned to return to Israel and maybe even live here but as soon as WW2 broke out and Poland was invaded by the Nazis, he decided to stay at the orphanage at Warszawa with his pupils and made great efforts to operate the orphanage even under the difficult conditions life at the ghetto imposed.
Korczak developed and practiced a revolutionary education methodology that focused on the child - love of the child, respect of the child and children's rights. The orphanages he established and operated were based on the self rule of the children and equality among them. His educational concepts have an influence on the Israeli system till this day and are a source of learning and inspiration to educators in Israel and around the world.
When the Nazis started to transfer Jews from Warszawa ghetto to Treblinka death camp they ordered to send the children from the orphanage. The Nazis offered Janusz Korczak to leave the orphanage and save his own life but he refused. In this way, on Wednesday, August 5th 1942, 200 orphans walked from Warszawa ghetto to the train station on their way to the death camp, lead by Janusz Korczak.
The educational event will begin at the original location of the orphanage since its establishment and until it was transferred to the ghetto during the holocaust. The Israeli and Polish pupils will hold a "youth meeting", visit the location and will learn about Janusz Korczak, his educational ideology, the children's life at the orphanage. The pupils will also hear real life first hand stories told by people who lived at the orphanage when they were children and now live in Israel. In addition, the Israeli and Polish pupils will all make kites.
After making the kites, the children will go to Warszawa center, where the orphanage was located during the ghetto. The building was demolished and replaced by a monument in commemoration of "Janusz Korczak and the children".
Israeli and Polish pupils will fly hundreds of kites in memory of Janusz Korczak and the children of the orphanage.
Following that, the Israeli and Polish pupils will walk to the Umschlagplatz, "the transshipment square", to which Janusz Korczak and the children walked and where they were put on the train to Treblinka. The event will conclude with a Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance ceremony that will take place at the location which was once the center of the Warszawa ghetto, at Rapoport monument.
The event will take place under the cooperation of: the headquarters marking 60 years of Independence to the State of Israel, the Ministry of Education, The Society and Youth Administration and the Israeli and International Janusz Korczak Association.