Janusz Korczak: A Holocaust Hero

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Janusz Korczak was a holocaust hero in the sense that he held open two orphanages for Jewish orphans and kept them out of ghettos. This man may not have saved as many Jews as Oskar Schindler or Aristides De Sousa Mendes, but he was a hero nonetheless. He also had many small achievements as a doctor, writer, principal, and much more.

Janusz Korczak was the principal of two orphanages, Don Sierot and Nasz Dom. Both orphanages stayed open to all orphans while avoiding German Nazi soldiers and political rule. Korczak was very passionate about his orphanages and loved the children, which is expressed in this famous quote, “Children are not the people of tomorrow, but the people of today.” The orphanage opened a summer camp in 1921, which remained open until 1940 when the holocaust soldiers took it over. He had many other accomplishments, but he is mostly known for his orphanage.
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His birth name was not Janusz Korczak, but Henryk Goldszmit. He was born on July 22nd, 1878 to a Josef Goldszmit and a Cecylia Gebicka in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. He changed his name to Janusz Korczak, a pseudonym derived from a 19th century novel, Janusz Korczak and the pretty Swordsweeperlady. Korczak was given the chance to escape the ghettos by his friends, but refused to abandon those from the orphanage. He met his untimely demise with about 200 orphans and staff from his orphanage on August 5th, 1942. They were all executed after being rounded up for deportation to