By Bette Zaret, Holocaust Education Initiative
In April, the Ora Gallery will come alive with voices from past and present as sixth and eighth grade students from Buffalo Creek Middle School exhibit artwork inspired by “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.” Their drawings and painted stones are more than creative projects, they are heartfelt responses to history and to the courage of children who endured unimaginable circumstances.
“I Never Saw Another Butterfly” is a collection of poems, stories, and artwork created by Jewish children imprisoned in the Terezín Ghetto/Concentration Camp during the Holocaust. Located in what is now the Czech Republic, Terezín was falsely presented by the Nazis as a “model” Jewish settlement, but in reality it was a transit camp from which most children were deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
Nearly 80 years later, in the summer of 2023, I visited Terezín where I could still feel that something extraordinary had emerged from that place of loss: the enduring presence of the voices, especially children’s voices, expressed through art.
That legacy exists largely because of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, a Bauhaus-trained artist deported to Terezín in 1942. Recognizing the trauma surrounding the children, she smuggled in art supplies and secretly taught classes. In cramped barracks, children drew memories of home, imagined gardens, butterflies, and bright landscapes, small acts of freedom and defiance in a world intent on erasing their humanity.
Before Friedl was deported to and murdered at Auschwitz in 1944, she carefully packed and hid more than 4,000 drawings. Recovered after the war, they were later published, preserving the children’s voices. Their drawings, poems, and letters remain powerful expressions of creativity, hope, and cultural resistance.
One particularly moving work is a watercolor by Jirka (Jiri) Mahler titled “House/Interior,” which will be visualized as part of the educational and reflective journey of the Chaifetz Holocaust Memorial and Education Center on the Federation campus. Jiri was deported October 4, 1944 from Terezín to Auschwitz where he was murdered.
Inspired by these works, Buffalo Creek students explored themes of memory, hope, identity, and loss. Some re-imagined butterflies as symbols of longing and freedom; others depicted light breaking through darkness or recreated Jiri’s table between two empty chairs, representing fragile hope in a dark world. Through their art, students are not simply studying history, they are meeting peers across time and honoring their dreams.
Behind this meaningful work is their teacher, Joseph Baker, whose commitment to experiential learning helps students understand that the Holocaust is not just a chapter in a textbook, but a series of human stories with urgent lessons for today.
During a recent visit from 98-year-old Holocaust Survivor Ginette Hersh, whom I had the privilege of accompanying to Mr. Baker’s class, students were deeply moved and later wrote heartfelt letters to both Ginette and me. Watching them engage with history so personally was profoundly moving. Ginette treasures the letters she receives, a reminder that the lessons of the past continue to resonate with young people today.
The exhibition runs throughout April, during which our Yom Hashoah commemoration will take place April 12 at The Ora. This year’s theme, “Resistance and Resilience,” is reflected in every drawing on the gallery walls. The children of Terezín resisted oppression through art, asserting their humanity in a world that sought to deny it. Today, Buffalo Creek students carry that legacy forward through remembrance, creativity, and empathy.
Upcoming programming from the Federation’s Holocaust Education Initiative includes Impact Theatre III Live on April 14, at The Ora. Local high school students will present powerful artistic interpretations of the personal stories of Holocaust Survivors and African Americans who experienced segregation. Performances will include music by the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe and Cantor Mo Glazman.
Spring and summer programming will also feature professional learning workshops, a three-day Summer Institute with leading Holocaust scholars, and an experiential educational trip to Germany for area educators. Through these efforts, we continue the vital work of memory, ensuring that even in the darkest times, dignity, creativity, and love endure.
To learn more about the Holocaust Education Initiative, contact bzaret@jfedsrq.org.