On January 1, 1939—just eight months before the outbreak of World War II and the subsequent sealing of the Warsaw Ghetto—Janusz Korczak published a poignant, bittersweet New Year's essay titled "Reflections" (Refleksje) in the prominent Polish-Jewish daily Nasz Przegląd. Writing in the face of an impending winter and a depleted treasury, Korczak blends his characteristic irony with an "incurable" faith in human goodness to make a desperate plea for financial solidarity. When he notes that eccentric donors are personally calling "No. 624-01," he is referring to the direct telephone line of the "Towarzystwo Pomoc dla Sierot" (The Aid to Orphans Society), operating straight out of the administrative heart of Korczak’s beloved Main Orphanage at 92 Krochmalna Street. This text stands as a powerful testament to a man who, even on the brink of historical darkness, refused to abandon his 30-year mission of safeguarding the most vulnerable, reminding his readers that in desperate times, it is necessary to believe in miracles.
Here is the precise English translation of Janusz Korczak’s moving essay "Reflections" (Refleksje), published in the New Year's edition of the daily Nasz Przegląd on January 1, 1939. The translation carefully preserves the unique cadence, style, short-sentence structure, and bittersweet irony of the original Polish text.
JANUSZ KORCZAKREFLECTIONS– Is it good to be a child?– So-so. Not really. I don't know. I forgot. – But I do know that it is worse to be a Jewish child. And it is even worse to be a Jewish child who is poor and orphaned.Well, yes. Anyone will admit that without difficulty.But can there be something worse? – Why not? – There can be.It is bad to be old, but it is worse to be an old Jew.Can there be something worse?Oh – oh. – For what if that old Jew has no money?– And what if he has no money and is helpless too?Is that already the worst?No. What if the old, helpless Jew also has a heap of children on his back, and his heart aches—and not only his heart, but his legs and his spine too—and he sees that he no longer has any strength left?And what if it is not a Jew, but a Jewish woman? For her, up to a hundred years, it is not a bit easier.Is there something even worse? – Why not? – There is never a shortage of that.For what if that Jew or Jewish woman has trouble enough of their own with a severe illness, yet he or she is a member of the Aid to Orphans Society and sees that the number of society members, donations, and dues is shrinking—what then?He cannot even get angry, and he cannot shout. And yet everyone knows that if a man vents his anger and has a good shout, he feels a little lighter after all.For what is to be done if people simply do not have anything? That must be the worst, surely?No. – There is something even worse. – What? – If a young, healthy Jew or Jewish woman, in the full bloom of their strength—touch wood—has the means and can give, and yet does not want to—that is worse than the worst. That is a truly great misfortune.So, what is to be done? – I am asking you, what is to be done in this already worst of situations?Is there no longer any hope, any method, any medicine, any rescue?There is. – What?That Jewish woman and that Jew still believe in miracles and believe in God—so they are a bit crazy too—and they see that there are still decent Jews after all, that good Jewish hearts are still beating and pounding, and you can—not dig them out from under the earth—but you can knock, and though it doesn't flow, new pledges and aid in kind still trickle in, and there are even—(I have witnesses)—those who call up No. 624-01 themselves and ask for a collector to be sent over. There are such people, and there are such eccentric occurrences too.Well, then? – If that is how it is, what is to be done? They philosophize a little and even joke a bit.– Because why? Just groan constantly? – There is still ritual humor left in the world, after all. – Let those good Jews have their piece of merriment; those who cannot even do much, so they groan, they weep, and... they weep.Now everyone understands what this event is for.Winter is coming. The register—I wouldn't wish it upon an enemy—is empty.– So why shouldn't a miracle happen right now? Why must the worst come to pass, that—(as I have already said)—those who have, can, and should, will not give?And why shouldn't a crazy person have a right to exist today too—one who walks around, looks, listens, reads, and despite it all, remains incurably trusting and believing?I am finished. Our firm has already existed for 30 years. It serves its clientele reliably. – For every due and donation, it issues a receipt—these are amulets, talismans, mascots that bring life, health, happiness, and success. – I am not lying. – Please trust me. – You say there are no miracles? – There are. In these times, it is good to be a little crazy too.
This New Year's text in Nasz Przegląd from 1939, written eight months before the war, is a moving manifesto of Korczak’s "incurable faith" despite an empty treasury and winter. REFLECTIONS (Refleksje) was first published as a book in 1938, but the text visibly failed to produce the desired effect.
The circulation of the daily newspaper Nasz Przegląd at the turn of 1938 and 1939 usually ranged from 40,000 to 50,000 copies per single daily edition. For those times, this was an immense number, placing the publication as one of the largest and most widely read dailies of the Jewish minority in Poland, as well as the most important Polish-language organ of opinion for that community.
The true reach of the text was likely even greater, as the newspaper primarily reached the hands of the large-city intelligentsia and bourgeoisie in Warsaw and other major centers. The New Year's edition from January 1, 1939, physically reached tens of thousands of homes. The number of actual readers was even higher, as single copies in cafes or libraries were read by multiple people. It was precisely this high circulation combined with a drastic lack of financial response from the wealthier social strata (about which Korczak writes with bitterness: "those who have, can, and should, will not give") that heightened the sense of drama. The text did not achieve the desired effect because it reached a mass audience that, in the face of the economic crisis and the specter of approaching war, preferred to keep their funds for themselves rather than donate them to the "Aid to Orphans" Society.
