Janusz Korczak (Henrik Goldschmidt) was born in Warsaw on July 22, 1878 in a wealthy family. His father was a famous lawyer. When Henryk was 11 years old, his father contracted mental illness, he was placed in a clinic, from where he never returned. These events left a tragic imprint on the soul of Henry. The long illness of the father sharply worsened the economic condition of the family. To help his mother and sister, Henryk began to earn tutoring, combining his studies at the gymnasium with work.
After graduating from the Russian gymnasium in 1898, Henryk entered the University of Warsaw at the Faculty of Medicine. Having chosen the pseudonym Janusz Korczak, he has been actively working as a journalist since the first year. As Korczak himself said more than once, his literary style was greatly influenced by Russian literature of the XIX century, especially the work of Chekhov.
After graduating from the university in 1904, Janusz Korczak began working as a pediatrician at the children's hospital. He takes part in the Russian-Japanese war as a doctor of a field hospital, then again works in one of the children's clinics.
In 1905, Janusz Korczak’s first novel, The Living Room Child, was published, which brought him fame and success. Korczak embarks on the path of transforming an unsettled world both as a pediatrician and as a writer, public figure and journalist. His slogan is “Reforming the world means reforming education.”
During the years of work as a teacher in children's summer colonies, Janusz Korczak finally decided on his main profession - a teacher. The best proof of this was his books such as “Moski, Joski and Sruli”, “Juzki, Yaski and Franki”. In 1912, Korczak became the director of the reorganized “House of Orphans”.
During the war years, one of the main pedagogical works of Korczak was born - the book How to Love a Child (1918), which became his life credo.
Returning to Warsaw in 1918, he became the soul and the think tank of two orphanages – the House of Orphans and Our Home. In them, he created a tiny cell of justice and equality, a kind of children's republic.
Korczak analyzes and describes his practical work with children in books. The best of them were “Educational Moments”, “The Right of the Child to Respect”, “Jooky Pedagogy”, “When I’m Little Again”, “Stubborn Boy”. The life of Louis Pasteur. He collaborates a lot with magazines, works as an editor of the world’s first children’s newspaper, gives educational talks on the radio.
Among the books of Janusz Korczak, a special place is occupied by the dilogy “King Matiusz I” and “Matiusz on a desert island”. Thanks to them, Korshak received worldwide fame, and his masterpiece took a worthy place among the best philosophical fairy tales.
During Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the occupation of Warsaw, Korczak did not abandon his wards. In 1940 he was arrested by the Germans. He spent several months in prison until his former students bought him out. He had the opportunity to leave Poland forever, but he chose to return to the “House of Orphans”, which by that time was located in the Warsaw ghetto.
On August 5, 1942, children from the “House of Orphans” were sent to a concentration camp in Treblinka. Korshak remained with his students. He did not leave them and with them entered the gas chamber.
In Treblinka, at the place of death of Janusz Korczak, a memorial is installed - a large stone, a short inscription on which reads: "Janusz Korczak and children."