The Good Doctor of Warsaw

This story, The Good Doctor of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford, is a profoundly moving story.  It is told against the background of terrible real events and real people.  Janusz Korczak is the "good doctor", a pioneering child psychologist who ran an orphanage before and after the Warsaw Ghetto was created by Nazi Germany.  There is also a young couple, Misha and Sophia, whose happy lives are disrupted by the Nazi invasion.  Misha is learning medicine at university and helps Dr Korczak in the orphanage.  As the war continues, life within the walls of the ghetto becomes increasingly difficult.  Food is scarce and basic necessities of life are hard to come by.  People are taken away to work in factories.  Dr Korczak pins his hopes on the children as being the future of Poland.  Surviving the war can never be guaranteed.  Korczak's book How to Love a Child makes interesting reading.  I have read factual accounts about the Warsaw Uprising and I've visited the terrible Paviak prison and the excellent Rising Museum, now tourist attractions.  This is usually the sort of story that I would avoid because of the tragedy that we all know about.  However, though this is often a sad story, it is beautifully told.  There are happy parts as well.  Highly recommended. 5/5