Janusz Korczak's work on child protection and its contemporary implications

Janusz Korczak's pedagogy is focused on the child and its needs. The need to protect the child from abuse in its environment is especially important. The Polish pedagogue spoke out against this kind of abuse in his publications as well as in his educational activity. In 1912, together with Stefania Wilczyńska, he founded an orphanage in Warsaw. In that house, children's rights were protected and good conditions were created for their multifaceted development. During World War II, the house was closed down and its inhabitants were sent to a Nazi extermination camp. Janusz Korczak accompanied the exiled children and lost his life with them. Although he failed to protect his pupils from death, he showed that protection is a fundamental right of the child. It is a right which should be universally respected. The contemporary implications of Janusz Korczak's thoughts and activities can be observed in legal and pedagogical initiatives for child protection. Its scope should be constantly adapted to the current threats and changing conditions of social life. Korczak's call to respect the rights of the child which protect its dignity and freedom is still relevant.