Stephanie Jane recenzis The Teacher of Warsaw de Mario Escobar
Perhaps too much fictionalised
4 steloj
The Teacher Of Warsaw is a fictionalised story with its basis in the experiences of a real person, Janucz Korczak, who was a teacher and orphanage director in Poland. A Jewish man, although he primarily thought of himself as a Pole, Korczak is remembered today for his exceptional work with children and for remaining with his Jewish orphans as they were loaded into train cars headed to the Treblinka concentration camp. Korczak left behind a short diary which Mario Escobar has used and extended to create this novel about the Dom Sierot orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto.
The Teacher Of Warsaw is, understandably, an emotional read, especially with readers being all too aware from the very beginning what the likely fate of Korczak and his orphans will be. While I did feel that Escobar overplayed the heartstring pulling at times, I did also appreciate how fully he tried to portray …
The Teacher Of Warsaw is a fictionalised story with its basis in the experiences of a real person, Janucz Korczak, who was a teacher and orphanage director in Poland. A Jewish man, although he primarily thought of himself as a Pole, Korczak is remembered today for his exceptional work with children and for remaining with his Jewish orphans as they were loaded into train cars headed to the Treblinka concentration camp. Korczak left behind a short diary which Mario Escobar has used and extended to create this novel about the Dom Sierot orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto.
The Teacher Of Warsaw is, understandably, an emotional read, especially with readers being all too aware from the very beginning what the likely fate of Korczak and his orphans will be. While I did feel that Escobar overplayed the heartstring pulling at times, I did also appreciate how fully he tried to portray Korczak. Korczak is, ultimately, a hero, but he is often far from heroic in his actions which made him feel authentic. He is fond of preaching his own philosophies and has a frequently inconvenient devil-may-care attitude that sees him end up in extra trouble.
I felt that Escobar's depiction of life within the Ghetto walls was well researched and sympathetic to its realities. There are many grim moments so, while I did think The Teacher Of Warsaw could have been written with younger readers in mind, some of the subject matter would be difficult. There are also contradictions which I found confusing and I was disappointed, after finishing the novel, to learn that several significant characters are imagined and moments in the real timeline were altered for dramatic effect. I didn't think this was justified.
Overall, however, I am glad to have discovered Janusz Korczak through reading The Teacher Of Warsaw and have done some additional reading myself to find out more. As a method of spreading awareness, The Teacher Of Warsaw absolutely delivers and it is a memorable novel in its own right. The book is often uncomfortable to experience, but it tells a story that needs to be heard and remembered.