I never saw another butterfly, Children's drawings and poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944. Hana Volavkova. New York: Schocken Books, 1993. ISBN 978-0-8052-1015-6
The topic of the Holocaust is a very difficult one to share about due to the graphic nature of the treatment of the Jewish people. The poetry created and shared by the children of the Terezin Concentration Camp gives the reader a first hand glimpse into the oppressive life and seeing death all around them each day.
The introduction to the book is from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and it is filled with important information to help the reader understand the history behind this specific concentration camp. Terezin was a Jewish ghetto for what one could call privileged Jews: war heroes, intellectuals, artists, half-Jews, and Jews married to Aryans. This model community was to prepared the Jewish people for Palestine, as it was presented to the community. This was not to be the case and many in the community were sent on to Auschwitz, where they were later killed or left to die.
One brave artist felt that the children of Terizin would benefit from art therapy. Her name was Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. She felt that art could be the release for the escape the daily chaos and turmoil of their lives. The materials for these lessons were often office supplies, scrap paper, or wrapping paper. She would encourage students to express their feelings through art or their words. Each of the poems are accompanied by the artwork of the students. Many of these drawings were saved by a former student of Mrs. Dicker-Brandeis and were eventually shared with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where the artwork is on display today.
Each of the poems included in this book reinforce the purpose of the book, which is to share the story of the children who lived in the ghetto of Terezin. Many of these children chose to see the brighter side of life in a concentration camp. Many used their words and their art to express frustration, fear and even anger.
The following poem shares the hope of one of the residents of Terrezin. The poet uses very descriptive language to describe the colors of the sun as it disappears, just as the regular life of a Jewish child disappeared during the terroristic reign of the Third Reich.
The Butterfly
The last, the very last ,
So richly, brightly dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun’s teach would sing
Against a white stone……..
Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ‘way up high.
It went away I’m sure because it wished to
Kiss the world good-bye.
For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live in here,
In the ghetto.
-Pavel Friedman 4.6.1942
I would use this poem to share with students as part of a study of the Holocaust. I feel that it would be important to summarize the history of Terezin, as it shared in the introduction of the book. My daughter was able to read this book of poetry during her sixth grade year. The teachers at this grade level were able to obtain a trunk from the National Holocaust Memorial Museum to use as part of the curriculum. This trunk is filled with vast amounts of literature, pictures and other artifacts. One of the activities that each of the sixth grade students is able to participate in is to create their own butterfly in honor of Jewish children who were in a concentration camp. The students are responsible for researching the lives of the Jewish children. At the end of the study, the butterflies are sent back to be displayed in Washington, D.C. at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
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