The Janusz Korczak Association of the USA (Korczak USA), promotes the legacy of Dr. Henryk Goldszmit (1878/79 – 1942), known universally by his pseudonym Janusz Korczak – a pediatrician, writer, educator, humanitarian and father of children’s rights, who is well known all over the world for his innovative work with Polish and Jewish orphans at two orphanages in Warsaw from 1912 to 1942. On August 5, 1942, Dr. Korczak was taken to the Treblinka death camp, together with his orphans, Stefa Wilczynska (co-director) and his staff of eight, and they all disappeared into its bowels, never to be seen again.
Today, in the USA, we are finding ways to bring Korczak’s legacy to public and private schools, after school programs, camps, Polish and Jewish schools and local community centers. Our goals are to bring Korczak’s progressive pedagogical ideas as well as his emphasis on civic education in the context of democratic citizenship to as many young people, parents and educators as possible. Korczak USA’s members publish articles, books, offer lectures, workshops, puppet plays and musical drama based on Korczak’s books and life in the orphanages.
Korczak Movement around the World
After WWII, Korczak’s legacy as an educator and hero grew in Poland as well as abroad. It began in 1946, when the Committee to honor Korczak’s memory introduced pedagogical projects for young people, educators, and parents based on his methodology and life’s work. This organization was followed by Korczak Committee in 1957 and Polish Korczak Committee in 1972.
In 1963, Jerzy Zgodzinski and a group of people who studied Korczak’s pedagogy with him, started Korczakowo Camp near Osno Lubuskie, where every summer, young people from Poland, and sometimes abroad, spend unforgettable vacations in the spirit of Korczak. Click here to watch an inspiring movie about the Korczakowo Camp. You can read more about Jerzy Zgodzinski in one of our newsletters (click here), and learn more about the Korczakowo Camp on their website.
In 1997, Polish Korczak Committee became the Polish Association of Janusz Korczak, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote and publicize humanitarian ideas and a vast body of work of Janusz Korczak, educator, writer, journalist, pediatrician, social activist, and above all, defender of children’s rights. In 2003, the Polish Korczak Association became part of the International Korczak Association (IKA). For more information, visit www.pskorczak.org.pl. There are now 24 countries in the IKA. Among them are England, France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Ivory Coast, Japan, Austria, Holland, Israel, and others.
Korczak Movement in the USA
Here in the USA, Dr. Korczak’s legacy was promoted by Professor Millicent Magaliff and Dr. Kurt Bomze, through their Janusz Korczak Society of America, founded in 1991. Professor Magaliff was instrumental in getting the Anti Defamation League to sponsor yearly Korczak Literary Awards in 1990s.
In April 2012, Mariola Strahlberg of Shining Mountain Center for Peaceful Childhood, Inc. (a not-for-profit organization for children), officially joined IKA, and in April 2013, in New York City, Janusz Korczak Association of the USA was officially formed. The following people were present at this special event: Joyce Reilly, Tomek Bogacki, Marcia Talmage Schneider, Rivka Halperin, and Mariola Strahlberg.
Our current board members are: Mariola Strahlberg, Joyce Reilly, Max Gilman, Brian Hull, Mary Tanner, and Marcia Talmage Schneider. Ewa Lukowicz-Oniczczuk is consulting with us from Poland on all the Korczak related matters.
Get to know us better by helping us to bring Kaytek the Wizard and King Matt the First puppet plays brianimationspuppetry.com as well as Janusz and Stefa musical drama facebook.com/januszandstefa to your area.