Holocaust Poem of the Day: Warsaw Epidemic

“I used to write at stops, in a meadow under a pine tree, sitting on a stump. Everything seemed important and if I did not note it down I would forget. An irretrievable loss to humanity.” – Janusz Korczak

The sun peeled the

gray from clouds,

burning their pewter lining.

Mid-day February and

sick students were having

troubled afternoon naps.

Their dry heaves echoed

in the doctor’s ears-- he had

nothing to cure a cough,

no antidote for a fever.

The flu flooded the ghetto

like a forgotten fog.

The children lay tightly

curled in their cots-- they

lay pale, restlessly immobile.

With every turning groan,

their clothes ruffled like wet paper.

Some orphans cried but

nobody made a sound.

Many prayers are silent.

Below the venting glass

panes, standing on the sleet

encrusted sidewalk, soldiers

laughed while slurping soup-

Korczak’s stomach twisted

as he heard uneaten broth

splash and sizzle in the snow.

The fragrant steam slid

through cracked windows;

he listened as his children

sniffed and moaned. He had

no bowls to scrape with

spoons they did not possess.

About Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak was an elderly doctor who cared for countless children at an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto. Born Henryk Goldzmit in 1878, Korczak first made a name for himself in Poland as a pediatrician, writer, and children’s rights advocate. Korczak would later change his name to shield himself from the growing anti-Semitism of the time. He wrote autobiographical novels at the turn of the century as well as founding the first children’s newspaper, The Little Review, and he had a radio program as “the Old Doctor.” Later, he gave up his medical practice to establish the first progressive orphanages in Warsaw. From that point until the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, Korczak wrote about children and for children. Korczak was 64 when he began writing Ghetto Diary (Yale University Press: New Haven (CT), 2003). Refusing numerous attempts at freedom, Korczak died with his children at Treblinka.

Holocaust Poem of the Day: Sleep

“Loneliness does not hurt. I value memories.” – Janusz Korczak

For the first time,

the doctor fell asleep

while the children

tossed in their cots.

Tonight, he refused to listen

to their muffled moans.

They were his children but

they were not his memories.

Korczak had been in bed

for the past two days.

His mother never strayed

far from the bedroom lintel.

His father stopped in irregularly,

as fathers will do, forcing him

to sit up or walk around

to get the fever out of his system.

On the third day Korczak’s

mind returned from its trip.

Before he could sit up in bed

his father walked into the room,

dropped a set of clothes on his lap

and said, “Get up!

It’s time to go for a walk.”

The doctor could still taste

the soda ice and pineapple juice

when he reached for a piece of paper.

In a blurry half-sleep he wrote:

“I feel old whenever I

reminisce about the past,

the bygone years and events.

I want to be young,

so I make plans for the future.”

He knew they could no longer make plans.

About Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak was an elderly doctor who cared for countless children at an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto. Born Henryk Goldzmit in 1878, Korczak first made a name for himself in Poland as a pediatrician, writer, and children’s rights advocate. Korczak would later change his name to shield himself from the growing anti-Semitism of the time. He wrote autobiographical novels at the turn of the century as well as founding the first children’s newspaper, The Little Review, and he had a radio program as “the Old Doctor.” Later, he gave up his medical practice to establish the first progressive orphanages in Warsaw. From that point until the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, Korczak wrote about children and for children. Korczak was 64 when he began writing Ghetto Diary (Yale University Press: New Haven (CT), 2003). Refusing numerous attempts at freedom, Korczak died with his children at Treblinka.

Holocaust Poem of the Day: Without Rest

“It has been a long time since I have blessed the world.

I tried to tonight. It didn’t work.” – Janusz Korczak

With eyes that rebuked sleep,

the doctor peered over

the piles of sleeping rags.

The dust-frosted window

framed the ghetto’s stove--

the weather, a cold oven,

baked a pan of water the

day before. The children’s

heavy slumber breaths

dripped off the walls.

Last night’s journal pages

floated in a smeared cloud,

the paper thicker than the roof.

No glow echoed

through the window--

the moon extinguished 

since occupation began.

A young boy rolled over,

opened his swollen

shadowed eyes, and

watched Korczak think

from across the room.

About Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak was an elderly doctor who cared for countless children at an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto. Born Henryk Goldzmit in 1878, Korczak first made a name for himself in Poland as a pediatrician, writer, and children’s rights advocate. Korczak would later change his name to shield himself from the growing anti-Semitism of the time. He wrote autobiographical novels at the turn of the century as well as founding the first children’s newspaper, The Little Review, and he had a radio program as “the Old Doctor.” Later, he gave up his medical practice to establish the first progressive orphanages in Warsaw. From that point until the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, Korczak wrote about children and for children. Korczak was 64 when he began writing Ghetto Diary (Yale University Press: New Haven (CT), 2003). Refusing numerous attempts at freedom, Korczak died with his children at Treblinka.

Holocaust Poem of the Day: Teaching His Children

“Everyone should know how to sketch in pencil what he wants to retain in memory. Not to be able to do that is to be illiterate.” – Janusz Korczak

In a sadly stern low voice

the doctor pried

splintered ineloquence

from his parched throat.

King Matthew’s words

failed to pass his tongue.

He was only able

to retain their attention

for an hour each day.

The children were getting older;

they were now the orators

telling one another stories.

Accounts they told

were without morals--

they were the recited

records of the ghetto.

Korczak knew he was slowly

losing his children.

Before occupation, the children

were disciplined for pencils

chewed in boredom.

Now, sounds of gnawing wood

were ignored. The doctor knew

that it could be the only thing

they would have to eat that day.

About Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak was an elderly doctor who cared for countless children at an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto. Born Henryk Goldzmit in 1878, Korczak first made a name for himself in Poland as a pediatrician, writer, and children’s rights advocate. Korczak would later change his name to shield himself from the growing anti-Semitism of the time. He wrote autobiographical novels at the turn of the century as well as founding the first children’s newspaper, The Little Review, and he had a radio program as “the Old Doctor.” Later, he gave up his medical practice to establish the first progressive orphanages in Warsaw. From that point until the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, Korczak wrote about children and for children. Korczak was 64 when he began writing Ghetto Diary (Yale University Press: New Haven (CT), 2003). Refusing numerous attempts at freedom, Korczak died with his children at Treblinka.