*Kazimierz Dębnicki (1919 - 1986), współpracownik „Małego Przeglądu”; dziennikarz, pisarz; działacz ruchu korczakowskiego.
Korczak in the ‘Distorted Mirror’
After WWII, 1945–1952
Shortly after the end of World War II, in order to preserve the memory of Korczak and his achievements, the collection of surviving materials and memorabilia was initiated. The Committee for the Commemoration of Janusz Korczak (1946-48) was established by people who knew the Old Doctor personally and closely.
Officially, in 1948, during the General Assembly of the RTPD, after a name change, the world's first Korczak Committee continued its activities. RTPD stands for Robotnicze Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Dzieci (Workers' Society of Friends of Children). ZG stands for Zgromadzenie Główne (General Assembly).
So, the Korczak Committee in Poland functioned and expanded until 1952. Then, suddenly, during the worst period of Stalinism, the views and ideas preached by Janusz Korczak suddenly became obsolete! Makarenko should have no competition! How did this happen? See Collapse I.
The fate of the collections was still not free from political constraints, hence another ‘collapse’ in 1968-69, when some of the active activists decided to emigrate under duress, and the collections were removed from the premises of the Society of Friends of Children, with which the Korczak Committee was affiliated, see Collapse II.
1953-1956 Collapse I - Anti-Semitic - Lewin/Stalin/Makarenko Action
Aleksander Lewin, a former Korczak scholarship holder (in 1038-1939), wrote a dissertation entitled: Problems of collective upbringing: pedagogical reflections based on the experiences of a Polish children's home and school in the Urals. The first edition appeared in 1953, the second edition in 1955. The dissertation glorified Makarenko and denigrated Korczak's pedagogy. After that, Korczak's works and books were removed from bookshops and libraries, even school libraries, and those that had been recently reprinted were sent to be pulped. In 1955, Aleksander Lewin was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for his dissertation on Makarenko and for his pedagogical experience.
When asked about her work during the Stalinist period, Wisława Szymborska replied honestly:
It's difficult, that's how I wrote then, end of story!
Aleksander Lewin never openly said:
Mea culpa!
1968-1969 Collapse II - Anti-Semitic - Gomulka/Jaruzelski Action
After the first collapse, it was only during the ‘thaw’ of 1956 that the Korczak Committee was revived. At that time, it established a permanent Archival Commission (1957), which began collecting documents, publications, memoirs, and photographs on a larger scale, and even undertook its first bibliographic work. In Poland, 1962 was solemnly celebrated as the Korczak Year on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his death. During the celebrations, a Korczak pedagogical session and an Academy event were organised at the Chamber Theatre, among other activities. The press and media were abuzz with information about Korczak's life and works. A series of colourful postage stamps with motifs from King Maciuś I was also issued on this occasion.
This next ‘collapse’, anti-Semitic in nature, in 1968–1969, included the closure and sealing of the Korczak Committee's premises on Jasna Street. The last chairman of the Committee, Michał Wróblewski, was harassed by the Polish authorities and, in November 1969, like many other Korczak supporters, he left Poland. The Society of Friends of Children, with which the Korczak Committee was affiliated, also left Poland.
Harassment
Of course, the harassment of the Korczak Committee's management was also related to the severance of diplomatic relations between Israel and Poland on 12 June 1967 following the Six-Day War. Poland thus demonstrated solidarity with the Arab states, aligning itself with the political stance of the USSR and most other Warsaw Pact countries. Full diplomatic relations were not restored until February 1990.
The reactivation of activities after Collapse II - "Stowarzyszenie".
The reactivation of activities after the collapse was forced by foreign Korczak societies in Paris, mainly Swedish, French, and German. Representatives from Poland were appointed to this UNESCO meeting; however, excluding Aleksander Lewin. Poland then appointed (!) an organization called "Stowarzyszenie" and also elected a new board. Its members included Dr Jadwiga Bińczycka, an employee of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology at the University of Silesia in Katowice. This excellent choice marked the third revival of the Korczak movement in post-war Poland.
