To Rescue of Children. The Otwock CENTOS During the Second World War
To Rescue of Children. The Otwock CENTOS During the Second World War

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the history of the Treatment and Educational Facilityin Otwock, which operated in the years 1928–1942. It was establishedon the initiative of CENTOS, the Union of Societies for the Care of JewishOrphans of the Republic of Poland – a Jewish organization which ran orphanages,provided emergency assistance and treatment, and even organized summerand winter camps for neglected children. The Facility, commonly referredto as the “Otwock CENTOS”, was the first – and, until the outbreak of the war,the only – establishment in Poland dedicated to the care of Jewish childrenwith mental disorders and intellectual disabilities. CENTOS employed moderneducational methods based on an individual approach, incorporating elementsof Janusz Korczak’s pedagogical system. On the morning of 1 September 1939,a German bomber dropped its deadly payload on the CENTOS buildings, killingten children and wounding forty other people. After the ghetto was establishedin Otwock, the Facility found itself in the “sanatorium district”. Despiteextremely difficult conditions, the Facility survived until the liquidationof the ghetto thanks to the dedication and commitment of the teaching andadministrative staff. During the liquidation, the majority of children were sentto the Treblinka death camp along with the residents of Otwock. Accordingto several accounts, some children were executed by shooting and buriedon the site. This group was accompanied by the teachers up to the very end.So far, it has been impossible to determine whether any children who stayedat the Facility during the occupation managed to survive the war.

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