“The Teacher of Warsaw,” by Mario Escobar (ISBN: 9780785252177), publication date: 7 Jun 2022, earns a solid four stars.

This is a love story set in the midst of depravity, and yet despite the unrelenting depravity, the story shows how selfless love can endure and even give strength to those facing the greatest adversity. This is a novel, but it is a historical novel based on fact with many of the characters, locations, and events being based on real people, places, and things. Some others are composites of real people, etc., to aid in the story telling. It is a provocative and thoughtful story on so many levels.

The central protagonist is sixty-year-old Janusz Korczak, a non-practicing Jew and Polish citizen. The teachers and children of Dom Sierot, Jewish orphan house in Warsaw, Poland, surround him. Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit, was an internationally known Polish Jewish educator, children's author and pedagogue. A doctor by training and an educator by inclination, his passion for improving the life he observed drove him to writing and journalism. His profound empathy with children and his genuine interest to remedy social problems was the engine of his activities.

After spending many years working as a principal of Dom Sierot before and during the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, Janusz Korczak repeatedly refused sanctuary and evacuation and worked tirelessly to house and care for the growing number of orphans in his charge. The book focuses on the period during which the Warsaw Ghetto was in operation and culminates with the transfer of the entire Jewish population from that ghetto to the Treblinka Concentration Camp during the Grossaktion Warschau of 1942. This book is a story of what he, other adults, and the children went through as they all struggled to survive.

In the telling, the author did far more than just tell a story. His narrative style and pacing gave this reader an appreciation of the grinding, debilitating daily life in the Ghetto, and how they had to fight in every way possible to for their dignity, happiness, and survival. Ultimately, he cared so much for the children that he stayed with them to the end, giving every ounce of himself to cherish and keep them.

Thanks to the publisher, Harper Muse, for granting this reviewer this opportunity to read this Advance Reader Copy (ARC), and thanks to NetGalley for helping to make that possible.

Was not able to finish this book. I could not get involved with the character, and it was not different enough from other holocaust stories for me to find the time to finish it.

Ramona Thompson

An excellent book and we’ll written. A horrendous life for those poor orphans. The main character is so selfless essentially giving his life for all those children! It as great to read how many Germans were so helpful at that time in history. This is a book you will remember quite awhile after finishing it.

This story was inspired by a real person in history, which made it more appealing for me. The Teacher of Warsaw tells the story of Dr Janusz Korczak and his students were preparing for their studies like any other day, little knowing that their lives were about to change for ever as the German soldiers were taking charge everywhere. Janusz had Stefa by his side, she helped keep him sane in difficult times. It was always one of the doctors worst fears that he would go mad as had his father before him. For this reason he refused to have children of his own for fear of passing it on. He needn’t have worried, he became like a father to hundreds of forgotten orphans.

This is a heart wrenching, captivating, and a beautiful story! Thank you to Netgalley, Mario Escobar, and Harper Muse for the copy of the Arc.

Mario Escobar touches many chords in the heart striking narrative of an orphanage in Warsaw. So many m titles covering this history gloss over the harsh realities while The Teacher of Warsaw handles those pieces with candor. The whole book covers a humble man doing his best to make life bearable in atrocious circumstances. Do not pass on this title’s historical value.

A great addition to the Holocaust titles.
Inspired by a real person, this story touched my heart.
Not a right purchase for my library, however I recommend to teachers.

How can you forget this book! It is the saddest story I have read in a long time and what makes it worse is that it is based on true events.

Dr Janusz Korczak and his students were preparing for their studies like any other day, little knowing that their lives were about to change for ever as the German soldiers were taking charge everywhere.

Janusz had Stefa by his side, she helped keep him sane in difficult times. It was always one of the doctors worst fears that he would go mad as had his father before him. For this reason he refused to have children of his own for fear of passing it on. He needn’t have worried, he became like a father to hundreds of forgotten orphans.

Some of the stranger parts of the story are that he actually managed to forge a friendship with German officers which was built mainly out of respect that they had for him and his sense of duty to his children.

It is a book that will stay with you long after you finish it.

An unforgettable and moving historical fiction story based on the life of Janusz Korczak. Well written and researched it’s one of my favorite historical fiction books about World War II.

4.5 stars. The Teacher of Warsaw by Mario Escobar was a powerful yet extremely sad story that was based on a true story. I have read many books about World War II and the Holocaust but few have compared to this story. The Teacher of Warsaw portrayed the day to day life and atrocities that occurred in The Warsaw Ghetto through the eyes of orphaned children and their protector and teacher, Janusz Korczak. This well written and meticulously researched book was based on the journal Janusz Korczak left behind and from many interviews with people that knew him well. Janusz Korczak was the director of the Dom Sierot orphanage where he cared for, nourished and loved hundreds of orphaned children over many years. He had gone to medical school and became a pediatrician. He preferred to teach and guide the children though. Janusz was a great storyteller and he often distracted and calmed the orphans with his stories. He used his stories to teach lessons to the children. Janusz saw each child as an individual and he believed in the power of love above all else.

In the early 1940’s, after the Nazis invaded Poland, the Nazis made Janusz move himself and all his orphaned children of the Dom Sierot orphanage into the 1.3 square mile radius of what became known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Hundreds of thousands of Jewish men, women and children were crammed into the ghetto. Disease, starvation, begging, constant hunger, fear, merciless beatings and death ran rampant. Food was always scarce as was medicine and clothing. Janusz appealed to anyone he could to help him secure what he needed to keep the children fed and alive. Irena Sendler, the heroic social worker, who saved countless children from death, was someone Janusz relied on to help him. There was also a Catholic priest named Marceli Godlewski who helped Janusz get children to escape through a network of monasteries. When things got more and more dire, Janusz was determined to get people to help him smuggle as many children out of the ghetto as possible. Janusz was never worried about his own life. He saw himself as an old man even though he was only sixty years old. Many people wanted to help Janusz escape but he refused to leave his children. Janusz always put the welfare of the children above his own. When the Nazis started to liquidate the ghetto, the orphanages were one of the first to be transported to the Treblinka extermination camp. Janusz walked side by side with his children from the Dom Sierot orphanage to the Umschlagplatz, head held high, holding the hands of some of the youngest children and leading them in song. He was strong and stoic for them. Even then, as people tried to save him, he remained with the children. He would not let them face death alone.

Janusz Korczak was born Henryk Goldszmit. He was courageous, resilient, strong, determined and dedicated. His work with the children in the Dom Sierot Orphanage led the United Nations to adapt the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Janusz was respected and a born leader. He hosted a radio show prior to World War II that promoted children’s rights. The Teacher of Warsaw was about hope, love, courage and dedication. It was difficult to read parts of this inspiring novel. Janusz Korczak always tried to see the good in all but even he recognized the monsters the Nazis truly were. Mario Escobar was able to capture the horrific day to day atrocities that the Jewish people of Poland were made to endure and witness. This is a book that I feel should be read. No one should ever forget what the Jews of Poland had to endure, especially the innocent orphaned children. It should also be read to learn about the heroic accomplishments of men like Janusz Korczak. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Harper Muse Publishing for allowing me to read the digital version of The Teacher of Warsaw by Mario Escobar through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received The Teacher of Warsaw by Mario Escobar through Net Galley for an honest review. This Historical Fiction novel is based on a true story. This story is about Dr. Janusz Korczak who ran an orphanage in WW2 Poland. He had 200 children, then was put in charge of another. I really enjoyed this book. It always amazes me how much courage people find within themselves in bad times.

OMG, I'm not crying, I have had something stuck in my eye for the last few days...This book is heart wrenching and wonderful at the same time.

This is a fictional accounting of the life of true life hero, Janusz Korczak and his students at a Poland orphanage during WWII. This is a truly horrifying story of the senseless violence at the hands of horrible people.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Muse for this advanced readers copy. This book released on June 7, 2022.

Beautiful, poignant story.

I love reading the stories of World War II heroes, and this novel was no exception. It captured my heart and I'm sure will capture many others as they read the fictionalized account of a real man who saved so many.

Thank you Harper Muse and NetGalley for the complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This historical fiction book tells a story of a sad time in our past. Janusz Korczak and the teachers and students at his Jewish orphanage witness the Nazi's invading Poland. They are forced to live in awful conditions in a compound in the Warsaw ghetto with over 4000 other people. The people of the orphanage will do whatever it takes to protect the children.
This story has many parts that are difficult to read due to the nature of the situation but Escobar does a great job of writing about it as it really might have happened. The author notes that some of the characters are based on real people, Korczak being one of them.

NOTE - I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the eARC.

It’s hard to know where to start with this review without having fully digested the ending. This story is warm and cold, hard and soft, anger-inducing and tear-extracting. It had all the feels and in all the right moments.

Janusz Korczak is a sixty year old teacher living in Warsaw in 1939 when Nazis invade and his world collapses around him and the Jewish orphans who live at his school. The story progresses as one would think; the Nazis invade and little by little, freedoms are taken away until they are all rounded up and impounded in the Warsaw ghetto. Once there, their lives take a turn for the worse until the painful end.

Here’s what worked well for me -
This book felt written very much off the heart of the sleeve of someone who desperately wanted to convey this story.
The idea of this hero in the autumn of his life yet still so strong, so fierce, so gentle and so kind fighting for children when he was given every opportunity to escape is awe inspiring, to say the least.
The relationships Janusz had with those around him, from the children to adult, who gave their all and more at a time when tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed played out well in this story.

Given this book was based on a real-life hero, it would be remiss of me to add anything negative to this. This story was simply beautiful and so very tragic. It stays with you long past the last page. Read it with a box of Kleenex.

I have just read The Teacher of Warsaw by Mario Escobar.

This is the second book that I have read by the Author.

This Historical Fiction is about Janusz Korczak, who is attempting to save 200 Jewish orphans, during The Holocaust. A very sad and horrific time in the history of the world.

A well told and important story, that is well written by this author and also very devastating.

This was a little difficult to read for me at times, with the theme, but also was a bit wordy.

The Author does make note at the end that some of the characters are based on real people.

A brave main character, who gives so much of himself to save so many children.

Thank You to NetGalley Author Mario Escobarand and Harper Muse for my advanced copy to read and review

#TheTeacherofWarsaw #NetGalley

Mario Escobar is a master at creating heartfelt and poignant historical fiction. This tells the story of Janusz Korczak, who ran an orphanage in Poland during the holocaust. When Jews, including Korczak and his wards, were banished to the Warsaw ghetto, he did everything in his power to survive and help as many children as possible. Like many holocaust stories, Korczak's is inspirational and proves that humanity exists even in the worst of times. Escobar's words successfully portray the wide array of feelings, from utter despair to uplifting moments, experienced by Korczak and those around him. Fans of Escobar's other books will enjoy this this fine addition to his repertoire.

Mario Escobar has once again written a moving story of children's lives upended by war. The story, though a work of fiction, is largely based on real life pediatrician and teacher Janusz Korczak during his time running an orphanage for Jewish children in occupied Warsaw, Poland. The author's note at the end of the book is extremely helpful in sorting fact from fiction, and this book has a healthy dose of fact. The book also has a healthy dose of insight into humanity, insight that remains true for our current national and world experiences. Escobar's writing style is at once simple and complex, enlightening and depressing, entertaining and educational, but mostly it is empowering.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of The Teacher of Warsaw from Harper Muse via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

<b>The Teacher of Warsaw</b> by Mario Escobar tells a fictionalised version of the real events in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.     The man for whom this book is titled was Janusz Korczak and much of this novel was based on extracts from his Ghetto era diary plus the "direct or indirect testimony of Korczak himself and people who knew him".   This book provides yet another glimpse into the treatment of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis.        More than that though, it shone a light on a good man who not only made educational contributions but also had a popular radio program, and founded an orphanage in which he adopted a set of laws acknowledging the rights of children.   After his death Korczak’s work inspired the United Nations to adopt similar rights for children.

On  more than one ocassion Janusz Korczak was given the opportunity to be saved from the Nazi's, the chance to flee Warsaw until it was safe to return.   After all, he was considered one of the great minds of Poland.   He was held in high esteem and had a public profile which made him reasonably well known and well connected.   Instead he chose to remain in Poland in the ghetto, where he raised his orphans, taught them gratitude, resilience and forgiveness.  He helped them to feel loved and went to great extremes to provide food to keep them alive.   The following passage demonstrates exactly the kind of caring man he was, and indeed he did sacrifice his own life by remaining with his two hundred or more orphans.

<blockquote><i> “If I saved myself, I wouldn’t be Janusz Korczak. The Nazis can steal our freedom, health, dignity, and even our future, but I have to be the watchman for the children’s happiness. They’ll be happy ’til the last breath. There’s something that can’t be replaced by bread, a glass of milk, a present, or even the prettiest clothes: love. That’s what we’ll keep giving them, and we’ll teach them to smile in the midst of the horror and not let their joy be taken away.”</i> </blockquote>


Whilst this book alluded to the concentration camps and included some examples of the kind of unsolicited violence inflicted on the Jewish people, it spoke more to the dire conditions prior to the deportations, and the lengths good men and women were prepared to go to to protect the children of their nation.   As always, I think it's important for us remember the events of WWII.   Reading fiction based on historical events helps us to learn but also to ensure we never allow anything like this to happen again. 

My thanks to the author, to Harper Muse publishers, and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.

My Thoughts:

The first line of the story made an impression on me: “I have heard that when you say the names of the dead, you bring them back to life again.” It is words and phrases like this that held me and impacted me throughout the book.

Several reasons why I love this book-and-why it is so memorable!

1. I believe The Teacher of Warsaw captures the main character, Janusz Korczak. I read the above links for further information about him. The twenty-page memoir written by a person who knew Janusz gave me a solid grasp of his personality. He was socially conscious, especially of children when he was only a young boy. Further personality traits: emotional but in control, intelligent, intellectual, a brilliant and quick mind, astute judge of character, compassionate, dedicated, a communicator, defiant, brave, committed, willing to do labor, and a deep thinker.

2. In The Teacher of Warsaw, I am able to know Janusz’s thoughts because he is the narrator. He is an intellectual and philosophical person, and this came across as an important feature of the book. I’ve read some reviewers remark they don’t like the philosophical thoughts of Janusz. However, this is a strong part of the sharing of his personality and of bringing him to life in the story. It is also those philosophical words that create my favorite quotes in the book.

3. The story shares the spread of anti-Semitism in Europe during Janusz’s lifetime.

4. Janusz is not the norm for a male hero in a book. The book is also not the norm for a love story. I love this! I love Janusz as an older man with health problems. He is honest. Vulnerable and frail. He wrestles with the suffering that he witnesses. His great love is not a romantic interest. His great love is the children that he is willing to lay down his life for. For Janusz, there is no other choice but to remain with his children.

5. The story shares the fears, anxiety, worsening conditions, and panic in the ghetto. The Jews talk of what they hear about the extermination of Jews. Some don’t believe it. Others do believe it. There are several scenes in the book when I just cried. For example, the frozen dead child on the street. Janusz had seen this child begging and now he is dead. When Janusz finds him. He rocks him and recites Kaddish.

6. There are substories of the various secondary characters. For example, Irena Sendler.

Further Thoughts:

I have no idea if Janusz and Stefa were in a physically intimate relationship. I don’t know how they felt about one another in the romantic aspect. What is fact, is they both were very dedicated to the children. They complimented one another in their roles. Where one of them was weak, the other picked up the slack. They were true partners in their love for the children. This point is beautifully depicted.

Janusz was Jewish but not a practicing Jew. In The Teacher of Warsaw, Janusz knew some Bible verses. The verses are sprinkled in a couple of places in the book. But he does not state his belief in Jesus as the Son of God. I do not consider this book to be Christian historical fiction. I don’t believe it is a turn-off for a reader who does not want to read a Christian book.

Historical fiction is heavy with World War II/Holocaust stories. The focus on children in these stories is rarer because it usually features the lead role as a woman who falls in love. The Teacher of Warsaw stands proudly with a few other books featuring love and dedication to children. This is a big reason why this book is a gem!

Format: NetGalley e-book.
Source: I received a complimentary e-book copy from Harper Muse and NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review.
Audience: Readers of historical fiction and Holocaust stories.
Rating: Excellent.

The Teacher of Warsaw is a beautiful and heart-breaking historical fiction novel based on a true story & a real hero that deserves to have his story made known.

When Warsaw fell, the Nazis occupied Poland and began rounding up Jews to the Ghetto. Janusz Korczak & the other teachers/caretakers at Dom Sierot do everything in their power to keep over 200 Jewish orphans safe and fed. This extraordinarily horrific and heartbreaking story set during the Holocaust will break your heart & show you the horrible history of the Jewish population.

This book is truly breath taking & heart breaking at the same time. I cried many times while reading this story, and knowing that it is based on a true story just made it even more heartbreaking! The author does an amazing job at telling the history of Janusz Korczak and accurately depicting his story. This book is a historical fiction novel based on the life of a real man & his story, and while some aspects of this book were made up, the author includes a segment at the end that explains which parts were true & which were fiction, which is greatly appreciated as a reader. Also as a person who grew up in Poland I am very thankful that the author did such an amazing job doing his research, and included real Polish names & terminology, as it can be really frustrating when non-Polish authors change these to make them easier to the non native speakers. You could tell that the author put in a lot of hard work to write this story accurately and well.

The only thing keeping me from giving this book 5 stars, was in certain parts of the book the main character goes on very lengthy and repetitive reflections, and while this was interesting to read the first couple of times, it ended up becoming really boring and parts that I would skip because the character was just talking about the same thing over and over again. I also would have loved to see a little more interaction with the children since he was so very much beloved by them, rather than reading about the character going to see various people (sometimes whom we only meet once during this book) to ask for assistance.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in learning more about Janusz Korczak or the Holocaust. If you do pick this book up, please keep a box of tissues beside you.