A Light in the Darkness: Janusz Korczak, His Orphans, and the Holocaust, by Albert Marrin. Alfred A. Knopf, publisher. New York. 388 pages. Hardback, $19.99
Janusz Korczak’s dedication to orphaned children during World War II serves as a reminder of the good one person can do in this world.
Henryk Goldszmit, known by his pen name, Janusz Korczak, was a quiet, unassuming doctor, veteran, respected author, director of a children’s home—and a Jew in Poland at a time when Nazi ideology was on the rise in neighboring Germany. Considered a pioneer in child psychology, Korczak and his chief assistant, Stefania Wilczyńska, operated Dom Sierot, a home for orphans in Warsaw, guided by the philosophy that children were worthy of respect as whole beings, not just future adults, and deserving of autonomy and self-determination. Unfortunately, Korczak and his beloved children died in the gas chambers of Treblinka in 1942.
Korczak was raised in emotional poverty. Not allowed to play with other children, he was frequently criticized by both of his parents and felt that adults lacked respect for children. When his father was committed to an insane asylum and took his own life, the family lost all their money and at eighteen years old, Korczak was responsible for supporting his mother and sister. Drawing on his troubled, isolated childhood, he became a pediatrician and championed children’s rights. He left a highly successful pediatric practice to become the director of a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw, which later became part of the ghetto.
In contrast, Hitler, who also experienced an unpleasant childhood, became a purveyor of hate and destruction. While Korczak treasured children and promoted their rights, Marrin points out that Hitler, on the other hand, saw children as objects to be brutally molded into “beasts of prey,” prevented from experiencing tenderness or developing independent thought. “Hitler believed the young were not precious in themselves, but objects to be molded to serve his ideology.
A significant part of the book spotlights the Warsaw ghetto. Its creation, life within its disheartening walls, the revolt of a handful of under-equipped, malnourished heroic inhabitants, and the ultimate destruction of the entire ghetto are explained in well-documented detail.
For those in our child care agencies, Korczak view of children is one we need to have – that children are valuable in and of themselves.
The focus on the value of human life and the vulnerability of children is welcome. The movie also shows the story of a community working together to combat this evil situation. These families are unable to handle all these foster kids alone; however, when they come together as a church and town community, they do great things. These people showed radical love to these children by welcoming them into their homes, and this film tells that story in an inspiring way, but also in a way that feels very real and true to life, not sugarcoating the difficulties but showing how people can and did overcome them. The film makers did not try and make adoption look easy. As explained in the movie, we have not been created to live easy lives. We live to carry the burden of others like Christ did. Mr. and Mrs. Martin and their congregation show us what this looks like.
This is an important movie to give the average person a glimpse of the of an often-overlooked problem, while focusing on the power of God.
This is a motivating movie for all Christians. It would be a good movie to show any house parents you might be interviewing, if they have never fostered or adopted children.