It was the last day that Janusz Korczak and his children would spend together in relative safety. He knew this, but could not bring himself to tell the children that they were in danger. Instead, he lovingly told them beautiful fairy tales of the things that he wished so desperately would happen for his beloved little ones (Szpilman, 95-96). During the horrific Nazi occupation of Warsaw, there was one man who represented the education, hope, and the wellbeing of Warsaw's orphans. Although he was not their biological father, Janusz Korczak taught his children, leading them as best he could through times shadowed with fear and doubt. He never wavered in his standards, refusing Nazi offers of freedom so he could stay with his children, and although he may have been frightened, he showed a radiant bravery in the face of danger, becoming a shining beacon of kindness and shelter for the children around him when it seemed that there was no kindness left in the world for the Jewish orphans of Warsaw.
To the children in Warsaw's Jewish orphanages, Korczak was, above all, a teacher. Korczak believed that the key to changing the world into a better place was not a change in law or regime, but a change in education. In his opinion, the children within a society should be taught to have a sound moral compass and to be able to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong (Efron 42). To him, education was a simple matter of teaching the children within a society to have a sound moral compass and a willingness to follow where that compass pointed, even in the bleakest of situations. As an educator, Korczak had a deep respect for children, and loved and taught his children all he could even when it was a challenge to do so. "Korczak saw educators as thoughtful men and women of action who are driven by respect for the endless challenges a child represents" (Efron 154). He did not dislike the challenges they gave him; instead, he loved children for the simple ways they challenged his intellect, and taught them through example and through words and writings to be the best people that they could be.
