Twenty-Four Stories from the Orphanage of Janusz Korczak

An old English proverb says that children should be seen and not heard which normally is treated as a false one, but at the same it is sometimes used by adults as argument that ends up the discussion with a kid. Janusz Korczak who is perceived to be the founder of the children’s rights was always claiming that one of the basic children rights is the right to voice their thoughts.
According to this theoretical statement, he made it real and was collecting personal stories of the children – it was one of the pedagogical methods practiced in the orphanage for Jewish kids he established in 1912 and directed from the beginning till 1942. Even in the war time he with his coworkers were trying to spend time with children, listen and write down (without any censorship) their stories and experiences.
24 of those stories, noted down in the Warsaw ghetto, outlasted the war time, were found many years later and today enable us to get closer to the children who were living it the Korczak’s orphanage.
In my presentation I would like to analyze this truly amazing material and draw conclusions concerning both the method itself practiced in the time of crisis, but also to comment on the interviewers and interviewees. I would also like to place this source among other sources of similar origin and see if/how they vary.