Although he never visited the country, the children’s author and pedagogue Janusz Korczak dreamed of India and thought of it often. He said it was holy. Amid the hell of war, he staged an Indian play with the children in his care about a sick boy waiting trustingly for his final days.

Spring 1942, shortly after the end of Pesach. The Warsaw ghetto has existed for about a year and a half, and over four hundred thousand Jews are living within its walls, in a restricted area resembling a labyrinth. Among them are many orphaned Jewish children placed in care facilities. One of these institutions is led by pediatrician Henryk Goldszmit, commonly known as Janusz Korczak. Before the war, he authored a number of books for children and adults, founded the newspaper Mały Przegląd [Little Review], and presented a radio program that aired until the war began in September 1939.

After more than two years living under German occupation, experiencing imprisonment, hunger, and the constant anxiety of responsibility for two hundred children in addition to his colleagues, Korczak described one of his dreams while preparing material for the weekly newspaper for orphanage residents:

I lay down for a while and fell asleep again. And once again I’m riding, swimming, or running, or floating on wings… This time