Our eighth-grade students recently participated in a Holocaust remembrance activity. In Ms. Nira Ann Penn’s English class, students undertook a very special project: the creation of butterflies as a symbolic tribute to the children who were victims of this tragedy.
This project is part of a class unit based on Maus by Art Spiegelman, which invites students to reflect on the Holocaust in a profound and personal way. Before creating their butterflies, students explored key concepts about this chapter in history, drawing inspiration from the book I Never Saw Another Butterfly, a collection of drawings and poems created by children in the Terezín concentration camp between 1942 and 1944.
Terezín, initially presented as a kind of resort for Jewish families, held more than 150,000 people who suffered inhumane conditions—13,000 of them were children. Sadly, the vast majority were deported to Auschwitz or succumbed to disease, cold, and hunger.
Inspired by the work of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, an Austrian artist and educator who encouraged children to express themselves through art, each student adopted the artwork of a child from Terezín, recreating their drawings or poems in the form of butterflies. This connection humanized history and allowed students to gain deeper insight into the story of this ghetto.
The project culminated in a special presentation at the synagogue of the Hebrew Society in northern Cali, where ten students and Ms. Penn shared their butterflies and reflections. “These children never had the chance to fulfill their dreams. It is our duty to remember them and build a better world,” the teacher expressed during her remarks at the place of Jewish worship. Thus, through art and memory, our students honored those who could not tell their stories.
