Illustrations for the reissue of the Janusz Korczak's novel (by Henryk Goldszmit), which was published more than a century after its first edition, in 2013.
This is one of two novels about camps for children. The first part of the dilogy, published in the Jakub Mortkowicz publishing house, was "Mośki, Joski i Srule", with stunning illustrations by Sara Lipszycowa (see scans of the book in the e-catalogue of the National Library, https://polona.pl/item-view/9ffdec35-e1a4-410d-adb7-617a0109688d?page=4, accessed 7.06.2023).
The works were based on the young doctor's own observations, who from 1904 onwards travelled to camps for children from poor Warsaw families – for Jewish children in Michałówka near Małkinia and for Christian children in Wilhelmówka. This is how the author assured the audience in the introduction to "Mośki..." about the nature of his story: "I will not make up anything – I will only repeat what I have seen and heard".
Being an educator in the camps (being a 'caretaker', as it was called, and as the author also described his function in the introductions to the book) was a very important pedagogical experience for the doctor. Incidentally, shortly after the publication of the second novel, the Orphanage of Janusz Korczak and Stefania Wilczynska (Polish: Dom Sierot Janusza Korczaka i Stefanii Wilczyńskiej) was established.
The publisher of the reissue of the novel, Oficyna W.A.B., offered to create the artwork to Marianna Sztyma, one of the best Polish painters and illustrators of her generation. At that time, her extensive graphic design portfolio also included many items for younger audiences. It is worth noting that apart from Sztyma's cooperation with numerous magazines, such as: "Midrash" and "Cwiszn", the artist also designed artwork for "Modlitewnik dla dzieci'' (Prayer Book for Children) (translation of prayers from Hebrew by Małgorzata Kordowicz, edited by Magda Koziej), as well as "Cenniejsze niż perły. Portrety kobiet żydowskich'' (More Precious Than Pearls. Portraits of Jewish Women) and "Mocą przepasały swe biodra. Portrety kobiet żydowskich" (They Girded Their Loins with Might. Portraits of Jewish Women) by Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota.
It should be added, in the context of a book about children travelling to the countryside from a big city, that the works for this project were already created by Sztyma in Gruda in the Sudeten Mountains, where the artist settled after moving from Poznań (at the end of the first decade of the 21st century).
Eventually, the illustrations in "Józki, Jaśki i Franki" were unfortunately only printed in two colours. The designs in the POLIN Museum's collection therefore show the original shape of the colour concept.
Przemysław Kaniecki
Illustrations – copyright by Marianna Sztyma
