Janusz Korczak

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The Library of Universidad Pontificia Comillas wishes to express its most sincere gratitude to the  Polish Cultural Institute for the generous collaboration that has made possible the presentation of the exhibition dedicated to Janusz Korczak in our institution. Thanks to their support, our university community has the opportunity to become acquainted with the life and legacy of one of the most inspiring figures of contemporary pedagogy, whose influence and example remain fully relevant today.

The ethical and human commitment of Janusz Korczak, testified through his literary, pedagogical, and personal work, represents a universal message that particularly speaks to those of us engaged in education, research, and the guidance of new generations. The presence of this exhibition in our Library provides an occasion to disseminate that message, allowing students, faculty, and researchers to approach not only his writings and educational proposals, but also the coherence with which he lived and embodied his ideals.

Please accept, therefore, our gratitude and the assurance that this collaboration will have a lasting impact on all those who visit the exhibition and discover in Janusz Korczak a model of humanity and integral education.

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Presentation

I discovered Janusz Korczak through a book that came into my hands almost by chance: Ghetto Diary, published by Seix Barral in 2018. Those pages shook me and transformed me. They revealed to me the strength and example of a man who, in the midst of barbarity, knew how to uphold the dignity of childhood with words, gestures, and tenderness. I did not experience that discovery alone. I shared it with my colleague and friend, Professor Juan Carlos Torre. Together we immersed ourselves in Korczak’s figure, spoke at length about his legacy, and, with the enthusiasm of those who feel they have found a hidden treasure, we strove to bring it to light and share it. Since then, speaking of Korczak also means evoking the complicity of that shared search and the certainty that his message is still alive.

Korczak was a pediatrician, writer, educator, and, above all, a man who devoted every day of his life to caring for and educating the most vulnerable. In the darkness of the Warsaw ghetto, he continued to defend the dignity of childhood through daily acts of respect, listening, and tenderness. And in the most terrible moment, when he was given the chance to save himself, he chose to remain with the children of his orphanage until the end, on that final journey to Treblinka.

Janusz Korczak’s pedagogy is based on the recognition of the child as a subject of rights and as a complete person, not merely as an “adult in formation.” Among his most significant contributions are: the defense of children’s autonomy through active participation in community life; the creation of democratic institutions within the orphanage, such as the parliament and the children’s court, which fostered responsibility and justice; the importance of self-expression through writing and play; and the conviction that education must be grounded in respect, listening, and affection. His educational practice not only anticipated many principles of contemporary pedagogy and of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but also put them into practice under extreme conditions, making the dignity of childhood a non-negotiable value that must always be protected, even in the harshest contexts.

This exhibition is a tribute, but also an invitation. A tribute to a man who knew how to educate through justice and tenderness; and an invitation to ask ourselves what it means today to care, to educate, and to accompany. May this journey awaken in each visitor the same emotion and the same commitment that we felt when we discovered his life and his work.

Thank you for being part of this tribute to Janusz Korczak.

Dra. Dña. Leonor Prieto Navarro

Facultad Ciencias Humanas y Sociales

Universidad Pontificia Comillas

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