A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children [Hardcover]

David A. Adler (Author), Bill Farnsworth (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Janusz Korczak was an author, radio personality, teacher, and doctor. But above all else he was a hero. As the beloved director of a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw, Poland, during the years of the Nazi Party's rise to power, he cared for hundreds of children. They loved him as a father and affectionately called him their "Old Doctor." Korczak could not save his children, but even in the darkest days of the Warsaw ghetto, he strove to protect them. Fianlly, forced to lead his orphans from the ghetto to the Treblinka death camp, Korczak remained with them to the end. This moving account of Janusz Korczak's life provides a powerful introduction to the tragedies of the Holocaust, but also highlights a remarkable story of courage in its midst.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-Adler tells the story of the Jewish author, doctor, and orphanage director. Throughout the book, Adler gives hints of the trouble brewing in Poland in the 1930s, without really making clear who the Nazis were or why they were seizing property and burning books. However, the main focus of the narrative is Korczak's relationship with the children he cared for. He is depicted as a kindly "Old Doctor" who allowed the children to draw on his bald head. He is unable, however, to protect them or himself from the invasion of Warsaw. The deportation of Korczak and the children, first to the Ghetto, and later to Treblinka, is described but not explained. Why have the children been sent here? Why is no one able to help them? Youngsters who have not studied the Holocaust may be confused and startled by the stark sentences about the camp: "But for Jews, there were no trains out of Treblinka. Janusz Korczak died there with his children." Farnsworth's paintings, beautifully realistic oils on linen, depict a dark world dominated by shades of gray and brown. Splashes of green and red-a bottle here, a scarf there-bring a sense of hope into the art that is not found in the text. The subject matter seems better suited to a longer book for older students than a means of introducing a horrific time in history to young children. This book would be useful as a supplement to other Holocaust materials, but on its own it is an additional purchase.
Martha Link, Louisville Free Public Library, KY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. In a quiet, brief account of the Polish Jewish orphanage-director Janusz Korczak, who cared for hundreds of children in the Warsaw ghetto and then went with them to his death in Treblinka, this picture-book biography introduces the hero's personal story, putting it within the context of the fate of children in the Holocaust. Moving quotes from Korczak's diary are part of the text, and throughout Adler is careful to distinguish fact from surmise. The narrative, however, is just an outline, so the book's grade-school audience will need to talk with adults about the history of Nazism, the ghettos, transports, camps, and gas chambers. Adler does provide a brief afterward and a useful bibliography. The illustrations, oil paintings on linen in sepia tones, are unforgettable. They evoke the famous documentary photos of the time--starving children huddled on the sidewalk; a boy forced to march with both arms raised--as well as the brave elderly caregiver who stayed with the children through it all. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823415481
• ISBN-13: 978-0823415489
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Man Whose Strenghth Showed in a Time of Crisis, October 20, 2004

By 

Jacqueline Bartha "JustAnotherLibrarian" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children (Hardcover)

This is a phenomenal book! Janusz Korczak, a writer, physician, and the ultimate child advocate, was also a great soul; indeed, if he had been born a Catholic he would be made a saint. He was a mixture of Dr. Benjamin Spock, Florence Nightingale, Patch Adams, and Mahatma Gandhi--rolled into one!

Choosing to stay with the orphans in the Jewish orphanage he directed, he protected the children through their forced move into the Warsaw Ghetto, and then to the death camp Treblinka. His diary is quoted throughout and we see a man who was very much afraid but who conquered his fears so that he could serve the tiny humanity in the person of the children in his care. Indeed, at one point he could have saved his own life if he had abandoned the children, but he refused to do so. The book ends with a quote from his diary which gives us true insight into his character: "I never wish anyone ill. I cannot. I don't know how it is done."

His life should have been one of happiness and fulfillment, of just deserved rewards for his goodness to others; however, like so many others, the Nazis terminated this great man far too soon. The illustrations are marvelous! They are rather like well done photographs.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Hero, January 18, 2009

By 

Murphy (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children (Hardcover)

Many heroes arose during the holocaust but many are not remembered as well as they should be. This was a great story about courage and duty. It is a true story and Janusz Korczak was a true hero and should be thought of as much as Ann Frank or others from that time period.
The illustrations are excellent as well.
I highly recommend this. It tackles the subject with the sensativity that young children require yet introduces the subject to them and as it is an important part of history and culture, it is a good way to do it. The children can learn there was evil in the world but courage was also there. They will focus on the bravery and heroics while learning a tidbit about that time period.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for Children About a Great Man Who Loved Them, June 2, 2009

By 

Daniel L. Berek (Flanders, NJ, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children (Hardcover)

From the time of his early boyhood in Warsaw, Poland, to his untimely death at the hands of the Nazis in 1942, Janusz Korczak cared for and loved children, especially those who others shunned. And the children all loved him. This beautifully illustrated book, tenderly tells the life story of the "Old Doctor" and how he ran his orphanages, both the original Children's Home he established on Krochmalna Street in 1912 and the one he was forced to set up when he and all his charges were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto after the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. What makes this book particularly suitable for young readers is how David Adler portrays both Korczak's tenderness and courage. It's a sad but life-affirming story of a man all children should know about, a man who loved children, devoted his life to them, and refused to leave them in the end. Young children need a hero like Dr. Korczak.