School Inspirational Figure

Derby Polish Supplementary School – Polska Szkoła w Derby im. Janusz Korczaka

„Nie ta­kie ważne, żeby człowiek dużo wie­dział, ale żeby dob­rze wie­dział, nie żeby umiał na pa­mięć, a żeby ro­zumiał, nie żeby go wszys­tko troszkę ob­chodziło, a żeby go coś nap­rawdę zajmowało.” 

 

Janusz Korczak (1878-1942)

Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit, was an educator, children’s author and pedagogue known as Pan Doktor (“Mr. Doctor”) or Stary Doktor (“Old Doctor”). After spending many years working as director of an orphanage in Warsaw, he refused sanctuary repeatedly and stayed with his orphans when the entire population of the institution was sent from the Ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp by the Nazis in 1942.

A founder of two orphanages in Warsaw, Korczak also served as an instructor at boarding schools and summer camps and as a lecturer at universities and seminaries, and wrote a great deal. He also established a newspaper for children in the Polish language, written by children, who related their experiences and their deepest thoughts.