at the  Central Library,  Ilac Centre, Henry Street, Dublin 1

14 – 31 October 2012

The Embassy of Poland in Dublin, together with the Central Library in Dublin and the Irish Polish Society, invite you to embark on a journey through the life of one of the first promoters of children’s rights.

Prepared by the Jewish Museum in London, the exhibition Champion of the Child: Janusz Korczak tells the moving and inspiring story of Janusz Korczak (1879-1942), a Polish writer and educator, who devoted his life to establishing the rights of the child, regardless of nationality or religion. UNESCO declared 1979 the Year of the Child, marking the centenary of Korczak’s birth. In 1989 his ideas on children’s rights were adopted by the United Nations in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This exhibition shows how his teachings on the treatment of children continue to resonate around the world today.

Janusz Korczak was a Polish-Jewish doctor, writer and educator who came to represent the rights of street children and orphans in early 20th century Warsaw, where he introduced the first progressive orphanages for Jewish and Catholic children. In 1942 Korczak’s Jewish orphanage was forced to move into the Warsaw Ghetto. Eventually, refusing all offers for his own rescue, Korczak accompanied the children on the train that would take them to the Treblinka extermination camp, choosing to die with the children under his protection rather than abandon them.

The exhibition was developed in association with the Children’s Legal Centre, University of Essex and it highlights issues of children’s rights today, examining the universalism of Korczak’s message and the effect of his teachings on modern thinking.

Exhibition in the Central Library is open on the following days: Monday to Thursday: 10.00am - 8.00pm and Friday, Saturday: 10.00am - 5.00pm