From 1942 to 1945 over 15,000 Jewish children passed through Terezin, a former military garrison set up as a Jewish ghetto. It soon became a stopping-off place, for hundreds of thousands on their way to the gas chambers of Auschwitz. When Terezin was liberated in May 1945, only about one hundred children were alive to return to what was left of their lives, their homes, and families. The story of those years at Terezin remains in drawings and poems collected and published in the book, I Never Saw Another Butterfly.
When I was first exposed to this story I didn't know a whole lot about the Holocaust. Over the last 30 years, I have delved deep into studying various aspects of this tragic part of World History and I feel I still have only scratched the surface. My mind always jumps to asking questions. Why did this happen? How did this happen? How can there be people who don't think that this happened? Those are important questions - but I will pivot here. Our lead character Raja says "...they are all gone and I am alone. But that is not important. Only one thing is important - that I survived." Raja survived. The drawings and poems contained in the book I Never Saw Another Butterly survived. They tell stories of the brave young people who created a sense of community - even in dark times. They are a product of the teachers that educated them and gave them hope.
In addition to spending time learning the mechanics (movement, lines, etc..) of the show, the entire cast and crew have taken time to learn more about the Holocaust by reading books, learning about stages of genocide, and a little bit about what these characters may have felt in the 1940s. I am so incredibly proud of these students for digging in, being curious to learn more, and being so willing to tell these human stories.
This is for Raja who survived.
This is for Irena who taught the children.
This is a symbol of what is more powerful than fear.
This is our interpretation of hope.
This is for those who thought they were alone - you weren't.
