During the destructive and apprehensive time of the Holocaust, one man accentuated happiness for the children in his orphanage. Janusz Korczak would let the children color on his bald head with crayons, and when the children lost their teeth, he would collect them and use them to build a toy castle. Known as a children’s writer, educator, and hero, Janusz Korczak showed leadership throughout the tragic event known as the Holocaust. Janusz Korczak had an unique early life compared to other children. He always tried to be decorous and positive throughout the Nazi Era. Korczak was memorialized because of his fearlessness. Indeed, Janusz Korczak displayed courage and determination throughout his life.
Just like every other kid, Janusz Korczak tried to live a normal childhood. As a young boy, Janusz
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Korczak had a great imagination and education. Janusz Korczak was born on July 22, 1878, in Warsaw, Poland. He was named Henryk Goldsmit, but he changed his name to Janusz Korczak when he decided to not continue in literature. He was a great writer and wrote books like How to Love a Child and The Child's Right to Respect. When he was younger, he played with kids who were poor, and children who lived in bad neighborhoods. He was a very quiet child, but he had a great imagination. In April 1896, Korczak’s father died from a mental breakdown. After his father’s death, Korczak and his mother were then very poor. He then started to work as a tutor for extra money. In his teenage years, he aspired to make a difference in children’s lives. In 1912, Janusz Korczak established a Jewish orphanage called, Dom Sierot and became the principal. Jewish children ages 7-14 were allowed to live there, while attending their Polish public school and Jewish school. He was also a doctor, author, worked at a Polish radio station, published a children’s newspaper, and was a docent at a Polish university. He graduated at the University of Warsaw where he studied medicine. He was awarded the Polish Academy of Literature Golden Laurel award in 1937, by the Polish Republic for his contributions to the nation. A graduate from the University of Warsaw, Janusz Korczak began his career. He continued helping kids, who were disabled, long into his adulthood. He believed that children should be listened to and respected. Due to the Nazis, who had taken over Poland, all the businesses that helped Jews or who were owned by the Jews were confiscated. In the 1930s, he had to stop his activities that involved Jews. He was Jewish, but he was not religious. He had a great chance to start a career in medicine and literature, but he turned it down. Both of his parents were highly educated and wanted their son to follow in their footsteps. Clearly, Janusz Korczak's early life encouraged him to be brave and courageous throughout the Nazi Era. During the Nazi Era, Korczak tried to take on the Nazi’s contemptuous actions toward the Jews. Having unfair laws take place, Jews were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1938, in Berlin the anti-Jewish Nazi party took over Germany. Bamboozled and despondent, Korczak was appalled by the Nazis actions. Janusz Korczak was cantankerous only when it came to discrimination. In 1938, German troops marched into Austria. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and other cities near Poland. Property was seized and books were burned. By the end of September, Poland fell. Nazis forced Jews to wear a Star of David armband. Korczak refused to obey Nazi law, so he was arrested. He was then liberated a month later, but then was arrested again. He then had to ask a friend to bail him out. Korczak did not want the kids to be scared, so he led them in a “kind of parade” when they had to evacuate. The children sang songs while they were marching to their new relocation. Throughout the Nazi Era, Jews, including Korczak, his children, and his staff, suffered in the Warsaw Ghetto. The Warsaw Ghetto was established in 1940. All the people in the Ghetto were enclosed in seventy-three streets. Korczak, his children, and his orphanage were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto. He accompanied about 200 children and staff members of the orphanage to their deaths in Treblinka, so that they would not get scared of the dark. On July 22, 1942 there were signs in the Ghetto stating that the Ghetto would be liquidated. The Nazis’ said that the people will be taken east to walk, but the people knew that they would be sent to death camps and be killed. On August 4, Korczak wrote about his children’s “Ill, pale, lung-sick smiles.” Showing courage and bravery, Korczak and his children were led to their deaths. He was given many opportunities to escape the Ghetto, but he denied and stated that he did not want to abandon the children. Korczak never showed despondent actions when he was with his children. Around the 1940s, he wrote journal entries, which described the Warsaw Ghetto as a “prison.” In the Warsaw Ghettos there was never enough, food, coal, wood to burn for heat, or medicine. Thousands of people died each month from starvation and disease. In 1941, the children had to move again because the ghetto was reduced in size. On August 6, the Nazis came for the orphans. Korczak told the children not to be afraid and that he will be with them. They marched 2 miles while singing a marching song. He calmly helped the children aboard, while everyone else cried, begged, and screamed not to be forced on the trains. They were in Treblinka, where there was a lot of propaganda. Such propaganda, including fake restaurants and signs for the trains to other cities, but for the Jews there was no train out of Treblinka. In addition to the Nazi Era, Korczak, his children, and his staff suffered greatly; fortunately, Janusz Korczak was honored and was an inspiration to people. Years after the war, Janusz Korczak was commemorated in many ways.
Although Korczak died in 1972, he was a great inspiration to all people. Korczak inspired the promotion of children's rights worldwide. A statue “Janusz Korczak and the Children” by sculptor Boris Sakisier, is in The Janusz Korczak square. The square is located in Jerusalem, Israel. Associations involving Korczak were formed in Poland, Israel, Germany, and other countries. He inspired his patients and coworkers with his encouraging attitude. To honor his heroism, Janusz Korczak had a honorable memorial. A wall sculpture, memorializing his teachings at the hospital, is located in Olsztyn, Poland. There has been a 68 year ceremony marking since Janusz Korczak and the children of the orphanage’s death. Yizhak Belfer, who resided in Korczak’s orphanage, participated in a memorial ceremony at Janusz Korczak square at Yad Vashem. The square remembers the bravery and sacrifice of Korczak. Most of his writings were translated into many languages. In 1978-1979 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named him man of the year. Obviously, Janusz Korczak was a very honorable
man. Furthermore, Korczak was a very heroic person who had a great heart. Janusz Korczak’s early life had a great impact on his actions throughout the Nazi Era. Unfortunately, he died but is still honored in many ways. This shows how one person can make a difference in the world. He inspired many people to follow their passion. Korczak showed to enjoy life while it lasts because you will never know what will happen next. “Respect every hour and every minute of your life. It passes without a possibility to come back,” (Janusz Korczak).
Starting in 1939 during the Holocaust, many Jews were deported to concentration camps by the Nazis where they will meet their end, but how did some of them survive? Even though most of them died, some lives were saved by the very few people with moral courage. One of the people with moral courage was Carl Lutz. Moral courage is the actions a person takes because of his/her belief of what is right or wrong, even though it may risk his/her life. Lutz was born in Switzerland in 1895 and he emigrated to the United States at the age of 18. During more than 20 years of temporarily staying in the United States, he worked at the Swiss Legislation in Washington and became chancellor of Swiss Consulates in Philadelphia. These events lead him to be appointed as Swiss vice-consul in Budapest, Hungary. During his life as a Swiss vice-consul, he decided to save the Jews because of his belief. By the time of his death in Bern, Switzerland in 1975, Lutz earned the title of Righteous Among the Nations
After listening to a testimony from Ralph Fischer, a Holocaust survivor I have gained a new level of understanding to what happened in those few years of terror when the Nazi party was at power. On top of that I have learned that they are just like other people in many different ways. As a child, Ralph went to school, played with friends, and spent time with his family. All that is comparable to any other modern-day child. However, as the Nazi party rose to power he was often bullied, left out, or even beat for being Jew. Although not as extreme, I have often been mistreated because I was different, and it’s easy to understand the pain of being left out just because you are not the same. Eventually he had to drop out of school and then had
Vladek learned many skills before the Holocaust that guided him throughout his life during the Holocaust. Vladek knew that he could use his skills to help him survive. First, Vladek taught English which resulted in not only survival, but Vladek also acquired clothing of his choice which almost no other person in his concentration had the privilege to do. After teaching English, Vladek found an occupation as a shoe repairman in the concentration camps. Vladek’s wife, Anja, was greatly mistreated by a female Nazi general, and Anja noticed that the general’s shoes were torn. Anja informed the general that her husband could repair her shoes, and after Vladek fixed the general’s shoes, the general was nice to Anja and brought her extra food.
By means of comic illustration and parody, Art Spiegelman wrote a graphic novel about the lives of his parents, Vladek and Anja, before and during the Holocaust. Spiegelman’s Maus Volumes I and II delves into the emotional struggle he faced as a result of his father’s failure to recover from the trauma he suffered during the Holocaust. In the novel, Vladek’s inability to cope with the horrors he faced while imprisoned, along with his wife’s tragic death, causes him to become emotionally detached from his son, Art. Consequently, Vladek hinders Art’s emotional growth. However, Art overcomes the emotional trauma his father instilled in him through his writing.
A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal is a memoir about his time as a Jewish child in multiple ghettos and death camps in and around Germany during World War II. The author shares about his reunions with family and acquaintances from the war in the years between then and now. Buergenthal wished to share his Holocaust story for a number of reasons: to prevent himself from just being another number, to contribute to history, to show the power and necessity of forgiveness, the will to not give up, and to question how people change in war allowing them to do unspeakable things. The memoir is not a cry for private attention, but a call to break the cycle of hatred and violence to end mass crimes.
The Holocaust took a great toll on many lives in one way or another, one in particular being Vladek
Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born in Wadowice, Poland on May 18, 1920, shortly after Marshal Jozef Pilsudski defeated the Soviet Red Army to gain Polish independence. Like most young boys, Karol enjoyed an active childhood, playing soccer and swimming often, although he was most known for his remarkable intelligence and respect at a very young age. When he was eight years old, his mother, Emilia, died of an infection of the heart, and shortly afterward, his only brother, a physician, contracted scarlet fever from a patient and passed away. When learning of the deaths of his mother and brother, witnesses recalled young Karol’s response to the news to be a simple remark: “Such was God’s will.” By the time he was 21, Hitler had already occupied his homeland, ending Poland’s only period of independence between 1772 and 1989. Shortly after the Nazi invasion, Karol’s father, Karol Senior, also passed away after a prolonged illness, leaving 20 year old Karol without family. (Vatican Online)
Those of half and quarter Jewish descent remain largely forgotten in the history of the Third Reich and genocide of the Holocaust. Known as Mischlinge, persons of deemed “mixed blood” or “hybrid” status faced extensive persecution and alienation within German society and found themselves in the crosshairs of a rampant National Socialist racial ideology. Controversially, these people proved somewhat difficult to define under Nazi law that sought to cleave the Volk from the primarily Jewish “other”, and as the mechanization toward Hitler’s “Final Solution” the Mischlinge faced probable annihilation. The somewhat neglected status of Mischlinge necessitates a refocusing on German racialization as well as reconsideration of the implications wrought by the alienation and ultimate persecution of the thousands of half and quarter Jews subjugated in Nazi Germany.
On September 26, our class had the opportunity to visit the Stockton Art Gallery to observe Manfred Bockelmann’s exhibit, Drawing Against Oblivion. This exhibit is composed of charcoal drawings depicting some of the youngest Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust. These unsettling black and white portraits, ultimately serve a goal of remembering the lives that were lost and acknowledging the lack of basic humanity and dignity these children were denied of. This paper strives to analyze Bockelmann’s stylistic choices and how they affect viewers, and connect Holocaust victim, Sidonia Adlersburg (a foster child), to current foster care issues in America.
Kosinski ’s suicide in 1991 at age fifty-eight shocked the outside world, but didn’t surprise many of his friends. Ever since Kosinski had come to the U.S in 1957, he had become known for his spectrum of sociopathic behavior ranging from mere megalomania to brutal sexual coercion, fraud, and plagiarism. Kosinski was a pathological liar and a control freak. Some say he couldn’t help his lying because any Jew who lived through the Holocaust had to lie to live. It was in Nazi, Poland that Kosinski became an expert storyteller. (JK; pg. 97)
The phrase "a lesson to be learned and a tragedy to behold" has been indelibly attached to the Holocaust that to think of it in any other way is thought to insult all those of the Jewish community who lost their lives to the attempted genocide of their race by the Nazi regime. Despite such brevity attached to learning lessons from the Holocaust one must wonder whether the lesson has actually been learned or if people will continue to repeat the mistakes of the past. Angela Merkel, the current German Chancellor, has stated that the German experiment towards multi-culturalism has failed, those who wish to migrate into the country must learn the German way whether it is the language they speak, the culture they have or the very religion they hold dear . Such sentiments seem to echo those of the former Third Reich which held the German way, the Aryan way, as the only path to which people should attempt to pursue. While this paper is not trying to vilify the current German government nor is it trying to compare it to the Third Reich, the fact remains that the steps their government is taking fall uneasily close to that of their vilified predecessor. The fact is though, the German government is merely following through with the popular sentiment of its citizenry who believe immigrants coming into the country disrupts the German way of life and all attempts to live side by side in peace have failed. Despite being a predominantly Christian nation who supposedly follow the way of Christ, to hear them say that makes one wonder whether their claims truly reflects their deeds. It is from this situation that the essay of Eckardt and its view that the Holocaust is a "Christian Problem" becomes relevant to what is happening in the world today.
A group of Hungarian police sat drinking and laughing, their uniforms reeking of alcohol. One man spit out the name of a Jewish family that he was going to arrest the next day. After a few hours, all of the officers were passed out on the floor, all but one. He slipped into the night and ran down the city street towards a small house, a shadow amongst the darkness. The next morning the Hungarian police barged into an empty home. The family was nowhere to be seen (Michelson 1). The liberator of this family was Pinchas Tibor Rosenbaum whose individual heroic actions during the Holocaust resulted in the legacy of the lives of approximately a thousand Jews and a pattern of humanity for generations to come.
Imagine waking up on a normal day, in your normal house, in your normal room. Imagine if you knew that that day, you would be taken away from your normal life, and forced to a life of death, sickness, and violence. Imagine seeing your parents taken away from you. Imagine watching your family walk into their certain death. Imagine being a survivor. Just think of the nightmares that linger in your mind. You are stuck with emotional pain gnawing at your sanity. These scenerios are just some of the horrific things that went on between 1933-1945, the time of the Holocaust. This tragic and terrifying event has been written about many times. However, this is about one particularly fascinating story called The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.
Childhood is a powerful and important time for all humans. As a child, the things one sees and hears influences the choices and decisions they make in the future. “How a child develops during early and middle childhood years affects future cognitive, social, emotional, language, and physical development, which in turn influences their trust and confidence for later success in life” (Early and Middle Childhood). Yehuda Nir’s, The Lost Childhood is a first person memoir based on the life of a youthful Jewish child who survived the Holocaust. Taking place from pre-World War II 1939, to post-World War II 1945, this memoir highlights the despicable things done during one of the darkest times in modern history. Prior to being published in October