Activity commemorates famed and martyred educator Janusz Korczak, who fervently believed that every child should have a kite.
By EHUD ZION WALDOKSTamir 224.88(photo credit: Ehud Zion Waldoks)
Israeli and Polish children filled the air above Warsaw with kites on Tuesday in memory of famed and martyred educator Janusz Korczak, who fervently believed that every child should have a kite.
Sixty-five years after the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and 60 years after the founding of the state of Israel, Education Minister Yuli Tamir led a singular educational event in Warsaw to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day in memory of Korczak, who was deported to Treblinka with his students 66 years ago and subsequently killed.
Tamir, together with Israeli youth, and Polish pupils who are studying Judaism and Israel, visited the original site of Korczak's orphanage, where he taught and cared for his Jewish charges. There, they learned about Korczak and his teaching philosophy and heard first hand accounts from two orphans from Korczak's school who survived the Holocaust, Yitzhak Balfer and Yitzhak Sakalka.
Korczak was a devoted educator who developed an educational technique that placed the child at the center. He loved and respected his students and treated all of them equally, a philosophy that at the time was less obvious than it may seem today.
He was a pediatrician, author, builder of orphanages, and even had a radio show devoted to education.
When the Nazis offered Korczak the opportunity to leave the orphans and save himself, he refused. Instead, he proudly led the 200 orphans to the Umschlagplatz (deportation point to the death camps) and boarded the train to Treblinka and his death.
An eyewitness described the scene: "It was not a march to the death train. It was an organized mute protest against the killings! All of the children lined up in rows of four and Korczak walked at their head with eyes lifted to the heavens holding two children's hands."
Korczak visited Israel, or Palestine as it was then called, twice. Upon his return from his second trip in 1937, he wrote, "Every single child in the valley must have a kite until there are a hundred different types of kites and at every holiday and festival one should fly the kites. The kite is a type of toy and just like children who live by the sea are wont to launch ships upon it, so too children of the valley must fly kites. [Kites] delight children and adults as one."
On Tuesday, Tamir and the pupils visited the site in the Warsaw Ghetto where the orphanage had stood after its forced relocation, upon which a monument to Korczak now stands. In keeping with his wishes, they made kites and then flew them next to the monument. They then retraced the route from the site of the relocated orphanage to the Umschlagplatz.
At the Korczak memorial, Tamir said, "In the face of the Holocaust and the brutal mass murders, Korczak presented an opposing ideal of compassion and love for every child and left behind an educational legacy which is still relevant today. The image of a straight-backed Korczak marching at the front of a column of his pupils, orphans, is an example of humane dedication and exalted education. Korczak represents for me the perfect educator.
"The kite represented for Korczak the right of every child to freedom and happiness. The joint kite flying of Israeli and Polish children testifies to the victory of hope and love for one's fellow man over the regime of fear and evil."
Tamir visited Treblinka on Monday and participated in a ceremonial wreath laying at Korczak monument. She also met with Poland's education minister later Tuesday.
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