Zofia Szymańska and Child Welfare in Twentieth-Century Poland

Abstract:Zofia Szymańska was trained as a child psychiatrist in Paris before and during World War I. She practiced in revolutionary Russia and in interwar Warsaw. She survived the Warsaw Ghetto in hiding with nuns and after the war became a state employee in communist Poland. An examination of Szymańska’s career both before and after World War II introduces us to the development of child welfare services; the transformation of philanthropy into professional social work; the training of psychiatrists, teachers and social workers; the participation of Jewish and Polish women in these fields; the history of crime among and punishment of juveniles; the history of special needs education among Jews and in Poland; aid provided to Jews during World War II; and connections between Catholic institutions and the state in postwar Poland. This outline of Szymańska’s biography allows us to consider twentieth-century narratives of disruption and continuity.