On May 8th, 2012, Dr. Margaret Chustecki, Founder and Managing Director of AORF, attended the Seminar “Janusz Korczak and Children’s Rights in Contemporary Perspective” at the Consulate General of Poland in New York. 2012 is the Janusz Korczak Year, and therefore it was a wonderful occasion to discuss the significance and influence of this remarkable teacher, doctor and social worker on adults’ attitude towards children.

In 1912, during one of the grimmest moments in world history, Janusz Korczak designed an extraordinary orphanage for Jewish children in Warsaw, Poland. Even when Korczak was forced to move the orphanage into the Warsaw Ghetto after Hitler’s rise to power, and couldn’t afford to buy food and medicine for his charges, he never lost sight of his ideals. Fully committed to giving his children as much love as possible during a terrifying time, Korczak refused to abandon them. He courageously dedicated his life’s work— and ultimately his life itself—to children.

Dr. Chustecki was deeply moved while learning about Mr. Koczak’s incredible personality and work. He will always be a great inspiration for AORF. At the seminar, we also learned about Olga Medvedeva-Nathoo’s book, “Oby im życie łatwiejsze było” and Andrzej Wajda’s movie “Korczak,” which left a huge impression on Dr. Chustecki. The Seminar was also a chance to make contact with the Janusz Korczak Association of Canada (http://www.januszkorczak.ca/).

One of the panelists during the Seminar, Mr. Thomas Hammarberg, Honorary Patron of the Janusz Korczak Year and former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the thoughts of Korczak had a great influence on the inception of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

The Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation is proud to have Janusz Korczak as the role model for our work.