STRUGGLEFOR SURVIVAL: JEWISH RESISTANCE DURING THE HOLOCAUSTTORONTO, QUEEN’S PARKWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 201912:00 PM
THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEMIN AFFILIATION WITH THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT
PRESENTS THE ANNUALTRIBUTE TO HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
May 1, 2019
“ Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.” – Elie Wiesel
The Canadian Society for Yad Vashem (CSYV) is privileged to collaborate with the Government of Ontario to present the annual Tribute to Holocaust Survivors. This year’s theme is Struggle for Survival: Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, the Nazis sought to annihilate the Jews not only physically, but to erase all traces of our culture and religion.
The honourees that we recognize today aptly represent this year’s theme. We pay tribute to: Dr. Renate Krakauer, Eva Meisels, Aaron Nussbaum, Lilia (Zilberblat) Tsareva, and Lenka (Helena) Weksberg. Each of them showed great courage in the face of horrific circumstances. Their families joining us today are a testament to their resilience, perseverance, and love.
Holocaust education becomes more urgent as significant numbers of Canadians are losing the memory of the Holocaust. A study conducted by the Claims Conference and the Azrieli Foundation released in January 2019 concluded that many Canadians do not know the basic facts of the Holocaust, with Millennials (age 18 -34) being particularly uniformed. It is incumbent on each of us to educate ourselves about the Holocaust so that we may contribute to a positive and tolerant climate in Ontario and throughout Canada.
Throughout the year, CSYV empowers educators to make a difference. Constantly evolving, CSYV has introduced Leaders of Change, a new scholarship stream that will take up to 25 leaders in education from Canadian universities and high schools to Berlin and Poland, where they will interact with European Holocaust history in a personal, intense and experiential way. With this experience, leaders in education are empowered to influence and transform Holocaust education in their home institutions.
Together, we take up the “struggle” to combat a growing tide of intolerance and hate in our communities, both in our streets and in our discourse. We each have an important role to play. At CSYV, we invite you to become partners in this vital mission.
Sincerely,
Fran Sonshine Ester DrihamNATIONAL CHAIR NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Fran Sonshine Ester DrihamNATIONAL CHAIR NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM IN AFFILIATION WITH THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT PRESENTS THE ANNUAL TRIBUTE TO HOLOCAUST SURVIVORSMAY 1, 2019
n 12:00 –1:00 PM CEREMONY n 1:00-2:00 PM RECEPTION n 2:00 PM BREAK/TOUR OF QUEEN’S PARK n 2:30 PM GATHER AT ENTRANCE TO LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY n 3:15-3:25 PM TRIBUTE TO HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AT THE
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
THEME: STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL: JEWISH RESISTANCE DURING THE HOLOCAUSTCEREMONY
MC Fran Sonshine National Chair, Canadian Society for Yad Vashem
O’ CANADA AND HATIKVAH Leslie Axworth (violin)
WELCOME Fran Sonshine
KEYNOTE ADDRESS The Honourable Doug Ford
REMARKS Ester Driham National Executive Director, Canadian Society for Yad Vashem
GREETINGS Galit Baram Consul General of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada
SCHINDLER’S LIST THEME Leslie Axworth (violin)
RECOGNITION OF OUR HONOUREES Dr. Renate Krakauer recognized by Caroline Mulroney, Attorney General Eva Meisels recognized by Rima Berns-McGown, M.P.P. Aaron Nussbaum recognized by Michael Coteau, M.P.P. Lilia Tsareva recognized by Roman Baber, M.P.P., Helena Weksberg recognized by Gila Martow, M.P. P.
REMARKS AND KADDISH Rabbi Eli Karfunkel FOR HOLOCAUST VICTIMS CLOSING REMARKS Fran Sonshine
Premier of Ontario - Premier ministre de l’Ontario
May 1, 2019
A MESSAGE FROM PREMIER DOUG FORD I am very honoured to extend greetings to everyone taking part in the Annual Tribute to Holocaust Survivors. It is a privilege to be among those honouring these Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in our province and whose presence here has made Ontario a better place to live. I want to recognize the tremendous courage of the honourees, and to thank them for their strength in sharing their stories as survivors of the Holocaust and for giving a voice to those who perished in this unparalleled human tragedy. I would also like to acknowledge, with gratitude, the vital role they are playing in raising awareness of the need to continue to take a strong stand against all forms of hatred, bigotry and persecution. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the team and board who support the important work of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem. Their dedication to educating Canadians about the Holocaust is crucial to ensuring that future generations never forget the lessons of this terrible chapter in human history. Once again, I commend today’s honourees for their remarkable bravery and thank them for their contributions to our province.
Doug Ford Premier
STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
JEWISH RESISTANCE DURING THE HOLOCAUST
THE UNPRECEDENTED BRUTALITY OF THE HOLOCAUST AND THE SUFFERING OF THE JEWS OFTEN OVERSHADOWS THE JEWISH RESISTANCE EFFORTS, OF WHICH THERE WERE MANY, RECORDED IN HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS OF THE SHOAH. DEPRIVED OF RESOURCES AND LIVING IN CONSTANT FEAR OF THE NAZI TERROR, RESISTANCE WAS CERTAINLY DIFFICULT, BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE. DURING THE HOLOCAUST, THE JEWS FOUGHT NOT ONLY FOR THEIR PHYSICAL SURVIVAL, BUT THEY ALSO FOUGHT TO PRESERVE THEIR JEWISH ANCESTRAL HERITAGE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.
Jewish resistance efforts were cultural, spiritual and, also took the form of armed resistance. Every effort was made to live life as normally as possible despite the harsh conditions. Throughout Nazi-occupied Europe, hundreds of schools were run inside the ghettos. For example, Janusz Korczak, a famous children’s writer and educator, set up an orphanage inside the Warsaw ghetto. He tried to make his students’ lives as normal as
JANUSZ KORCZAK, FAMOUS CHILDREN’S WRITER AND EDUCATOR, MEMORIAL, WARSAW
WARSAW GHETTO PASSOVER SEDER
possible in the Ghetto. When the Polish underground offered Korczak an escape, he refused to abandon his children, instead accompanying them when they were transported to the Treblinka extermination camp.
Cultural resistance included documenting daily life, keeping diaries, reading books, writing poems and songs, drawing and art, and the staging of concerts and plays. Maintained in secrecy, various illegal underground libraries serve as another powerful example of unarmed resistance. In the Vilna Ghetto, the Jewish community amassed a library and celebrated the acquisition of its 100,000th volume. Perhaps the most famous diary from the Holocaust was written by Anne Frank; it has been read by millions of people around the world. The legacy she left continues to serve as a compass to shape a better future for the generations to come.
Jews were not allowed to observe religious rituals in most ghettos. Despite that, however, they continued to pray in secret and observed religious services in basements, attics, and secret rooms. In Warsaw alone, in 1940, there were 600 prayer groups. Prayer served to instill courage, reaffirm cultural and religious identity, and provide comfort in the face of both physical and spiritual extermination. They have left a legacy, reminding future generations of importance of the Jewish values and customs which were preserved at high cost.
Some Jews staged overt resistance efforts, taking up arms to fight for the survival of their community. The Jewish armed resistance would at times join partisan units in Eastern Europe or participate in underground movements in Western Europe. Close to 100 underground organizations were formed in about 100 ghettos throughout Nazi-occupied Europe. These groups sought to stage armed uprisings or break out of the ghettos to join the partisans. The Sobibor uprising was but one example of armed resistance. On October 14, 1943, 600 prisoners mounted an escape attempt; only 60 survived and were able to join the partisans. On October 7, 1944, prisoners succeeded in blowing up one of the four crematoria at Auschwitz; all of them were caught and murdered.
Although the vast majority of those who participated in resistance efforts against the Nazi regime did not outlive the Shoah, their acts of bravery remain a testament to the spirit of the people who endured.
VILNA GHETTO LIBRARY, POLAND
FAMILIES COMMEMORATE LOVED ONES – HOLOCAUST VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS – AT THE CSYV MEMORIAL SITE AT EARL BALES PARK, 4169 BATHURST STREET, NORTH YORK
ABOUT THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM
Established in 1986, the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem’s (CSYV) mission is to educate Canadians about the Holocaust. Through educational and commemorative programs, CSYV perpetuates the memory of the Holocaust and disseminates its universal lessons to all Canadians.
CSYV is committed to promoting sustainable quality Holocaust education across Canada. The Holocaust is a subject that inspires critical thought amongst students, such as examining basic moral issues and exploring what it means to act and think independently. It is a fundamental subject for promoting tolerance, combatting prejudice and antisemitism, as well as enhancing citizenship in our classrooms and communities.
ABOUT THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM
IMPACT OF CSYV’S WORK
CSYV ensures that the memory of the Holocaust is kept alive and that the universal lessons of the Holocaust are disseminated through impactful programs:
• Over the past 15 years, 250 Canadian educators have participated in CSYV’s Scholarship Programs, which have empowered them to implement Holocaust education in their classrooms and educational institutions. CSYV’s two scholarship streams are: Leaders of Change, a 14-day experiential learning opportunity at sites in Berlin and Poland, and a three-week seminar at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.
• Over the past 5 years, 1000 Canadian high school students have participated in the Ambassadors of Change program, which brings students to Ottawa to hear first-hand accounts of Holocaust survivors and participate in discussions about the Holocaust and its relevance today.
• Since 1991, thousands of individuals and families have visited the CSYV Holocaust Memorial Site at Earl Bales Park, Toronto, which commemorates the victims of the Shoah, pays tribute to Survivors, honours “Righteous Among the Nations” and showcases the shattering toll of the Holocaust on humanity.
• Plans are underway to launch a new Youth Holocaust Education Program featuring the CSYV Memorial Site at Earl Bales Park. This program will be available to over 10,000 students each year.
• More than 26,000 individuals from 51 countries have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. In conjunction with the Israeli Embassy and Consulate, CSYV has honoured those families who are now residing in Canada.
• In the last five years, over 100 B’nai Mitzvah have twinned with a child who did not survive the Holocaust through CSYV’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah Twinning program.
• Over 12,000 individuals, including our countries highest government leaders, have attended and participated in CSYV’s Holocaust Commemoration events: the annual National Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa and the annual Tribute to Holocaust Survivors at Queen’s Park, Toronto.
CANADIAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN THE AMBASSADORS OF CHANGE PROGRAM IN OTTAWA.
Dr. Renate Krakauer
RENATE KRAKAUER WAS BORN ON MARCH 12, 1941 IN STANISŁAWÓW, POLAND (NOW IVANOFRANKIVSK, UKRAINE) UNDER SOVIET UNION OCCUPATION. IN AUGUST 1941, GERMANY INVADED. A BITTER STRUGGLE FOR LIFE BEGAN FOR THE JEWS OF STANISŁAWÓW. TWELVE THOUSAND JEWS WERE SHOT INTO A MASS GRAVE ON OCTOBER 21, 1941. BY THE END OF THAT YEAR, ALL REMAINING JEWS WERE INCARCERATED IN A GHETTO.
As conditions worsened in the ghetto - death from regular aktions, disease, starvation, and deportation to Belzec - the population was decimated. To save her, Renate’s mother smuggled her out of the ghetto at the end of 1942. She left her with a Polish widow in a nearby village. In February 1943, the Stanisławów Ghetto was declared judenrein. The handful of survivors was liberated by the Soviet army in June 1944. Renate was reunited with her parents, William and Charlotte Tannenzapf, that summer. Shortly thereafter they made their way west to a DP camp in Germany. After two years, they were admitted into Canada in December 1948. They lived in Montreal for eight years. Following a brief stay in Brantford, Ontario, they settled in Hamilton. Charlotte died in 2008 and William (Bill) in 2011.
Renate graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto in 1963. She and her first husband, Albert Krakauer, had three children, Robert, Lianne and Susan (Shulamit). They were divorced in 1976. Renate worked as a pharmacist for several years before returning to school to get her Master of Environmental Studies degree from York University. She was employed as a program consultant and Director of the Centre for Women at Humber College. Her next career move was to the City of York, where she became Commissioner of Human Resources. Then she spent three years with the provincial government, first as Director of the Human Resources Branch and then as acting Assistant Deputy Minister of Corporate Services. Renate’s final position before retirement was President and CEO of The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences.
Renate earned a Doctor of Education degree from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in 2001. She also received an Honorary Doctor of Health Studies degree from Charles Sturt University of Australia. Renate married Henry (Hank) Lobbenberg in 2001. Together they have eight grandchildren (Ben, Charlotte, Aliyah, Sam, Eric, Elyse, Charlie, Olivia.)
Upon retirement, Renate began writing short stories and personal essays, which have been published in journals, the Globe and Mail, and two anthologies. Her and her father’s Holocaust memoirs, But I had a Happy Childhood, and Memories from the Abyss were published by the Azrieli Foundation in 2009. Her novel, Only by Blood, was published by Inanna in 2015.
Eva Meisels
EVA MEISELS WAS BORN IN BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, ON JULY 3, 1939. WHEN EVA WAS ONLY 3 YEARS OLD, HER FATHER, ERNO, WAS TAKEN AWAY TO A FORCED LABOUR CAMP. WHEN THE NAZIS OCCUPIED HUNGARY IN 1944, EVA, THEN 5, AND HER MOTHER, IRENE, WERE CROWDED INTO ONE OF THE 293 HOUSES THAT FORMED THE BUDAPEST GHETTO WHERE 63,000 PEOPLE STRUGGLED TO SURVIVE. MANY OF EVA’S AUNTS, UNCLES AND GRANDPARENTS WHO LIVED IN THE HUNGARIAN COUNTRYSIDE DISAPPEARED, WITH EVA ONLY LEARNING LATER THAT THEY HAD BEEN TAKEN AND MURDERED IN AUSCHWITZ.
Eva and her mother endured falling bombs, illness and the sight of death while in the ghetto, surviving only on the sparse food they could find. Through the brave work of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, they were able to acquire false papers and move to a safe house for a short period. They ended up back in the ghetto with Eva forced to hide in a basement bomb shelter for many days straight. When finally liberated by the Soviet army in January, 1945, Eva was unable to see for a number of days until her eyes were able to gradually adjust to daylight again.
Eva and her mother did not know the fate of Eva’s father. In August, 1945, Erno finally returned, having survived Mauthausen concentration camp, to find his wife and daughter both alive. Eva did not even recognize her own father as she had not seen him since she was a toddler. The family worked hard to rebuild their lives but decided to flee Hungary after the revolution in 1956. Eva, then 17, first escaped to Austria and then immigrated to Canada with her parents. She went to work to help her family, also enrolling immediately in night school to further her education.
Eva met her beloved husband, Leslie, in 1959. Leslie was also a Holocaust survivor who survived forced labour in Austria and then the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. They wed in 1961 and have been blessed with 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren. Both Eva and Leslie have been passionate about sharing their history in the hope that future generations will learn from them and never allow the horrors of the Holocaust to be repeated. They stress the importance of education, which they continued to pursue all their lives, and the message of hope, which they always held onto no matter what adversities they faced. When speaking to thousands of young people throughout North America, they urge them to keep learning, to stand up to any form of discrimination and to never remain silent. While Leslie sadly passed away in 2018, Eva bravely continues their important work.
Aaron Nussbaum
AARON NUSSBAUM WAS BORN TO AVRAHAM AND REGINA (NÉE LANDAU) ON DECEMBER 10, 1931 IN SANDOMIERZ, POLAND, A COMMUNITY WITH FOUR HUNDRED JEWISH FAMILIES. HIS CLOSE FAMILY CONSISTED OF ABOUT TWENTY-FOUR MEMBERS; ONLY SIX SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST. AARON AND HIS FAMILY WERE MODERN ORTHODOX JEWS. AVRAHAM, AARON’S FATHER, OWNED A STORE THAT SOLD ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT, APPLIANCES, AND BICYCLES. IN APRIL 1940, AVRAHAM WAS ARRESTED, TAKEN FIRST TO BUCHENWALD AND THEN TO RAVENSBRÜCK CONCENTRATION CAMPS. IN JUNE 1942, THE FAMILY LEARNED THAT HE HAD DIED.
In September, 1942, Aaron and his family went into hiding in Warsaw, in an apartment with a Polish family where they hid behind a fake wall. In June 1943, no longer able to stay, they registered at the Hotel Polski in Warsaw, where the Germans said they would exchange Jews for German citizens who were detained in foreign countries. They obtained false papers for immigration to Palestine but the Hotel was raided and everyone was loaded onto trucks for relocation.
Aaron’s mother wanted them to get on the truck with the chairman of the Judenrat (Jewish council) however Aaron pulled his mother and brother off that truck and boarded the other truck. Those on the first truck were immediately executed. Aaron’s family was taken to Bergen Belsen concentration camp where they remained from July 1943 until April 1945. When the British arrived on the outskirts of Bergen-Belsen in April 1945, the Germans put them on trains to be taken to be murdered. Just before the trains could be unloaded outside of Hillersleben, they were liberated by American forces on April 12, 1945.
Aaron was sent to Palestine, where he lived in the Atlit detainee camp, attended school in Gan Shmuel and joined Gadna, the youth division of the Haganah. When the Israeli War of Independence broke out, Aaron served in the Palmach until the end of 1949. After his discharge, along with others, he founded Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak in the Negev where he lived until 1952. Aaron then came to Canada through Pier 21 to visit his family who had survived the Holocaust and had immigrated to Toronto, and stayed.
After working in a clothing factory, he worked in construction and saved enough money to open a hardware store. Aaron built a storefront and apartments above his hardware and building supply business that continued for over 50 years. He was also involved in building sub-divisions in Thornhill and commercial buildings and factories in the GTA.
Aaron and Bella (née Goldman) were married on June 1, 1958. They have two children, Allan and Gayle and six grandchildren, Elanna, Jordan, Nicole, Noah, Samara and Joshua. Bella passed away on October 25, 2011. Aaron regularly returns to Israel and in 2016, he travelled to Poland with his family to visit his hometown of Sandomierz and then to Israel where he frequently visits Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak.
Lilia (Zilberblat) Tsareva
LILIA TSAREVA (NÉE ZILBERBLAT), WAS BORN ON DECEMBER 25, 1937. SHE LIVED IN ODESSA, UKRAINE, WHERE HER MOTHER, FEIGA ZILBERBLAT (NÉE ZISMAN), WAS AS A LIBRARIAN AND HER FATHER, EMMANUEL ZILBERBLAT, WORKED AS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER. SHE WAS THEIR FIRST-BORN CHILD; HER BROTHER ABRAM WAS BORN IN 1939, HER SISTER IN 1942, AND HER YOUNGEST SISTER IN 1947.
Soon after World War II started, Odessa was bombed and the occupation began. Horror and destruction were everywhere, stores and factories were closed, and people started evacuating. In August of 1941, Feiga Zilberblat, who was pregnant, boarded the last cargo boat going from Odessa to Novorossiysk, Russia with her two children. When they arrived, the boat was bombed. They found themselves travelling north by wagon in search of safety. They took the train to Stalingrad, where they stayed until Feiga gave birth. Two months later, they travelled to Rostov where Feiga was hoping to see her husband, who was stationed nearby.
The Nazis were advancing into Russia, and with them, destruction and human suffering. The family was forced to go to the village of “May 1st of Tselilna”, where the people had already started evacuating. Lilia recalls that one of the local people tried to kill her family with a knife. The family ran leaving all of their belongings and documents behind. In a nearby town, they boarded a train that was evacuating deaf and mute children. That night the Nazis bombed the train. By the time the attack finished, only their car was left partially intact. Feiga and her children ran again. Lilia still remembers people covered in blood, crying and screaming from pain. They stopped several kilometers away in a village called “Botanika,” where the local people sheltered them.
A few days later, the Nazis invaded the village and ordered everybody to register.
Feiga knew that if she registered, the family would be killed immediately. Her priority was saving her children so she left Lilia with a local Russian woman who had just adopted an orphaned 14 year-old girl named Tanya. Abram was left with another local childless family. The adoptive parents registered Lilia and Abram as their own children under the new names, taking an extraordinary risk as Nazis were stationed in the village. Feiga was sheltered by the local agriculturist and his family, who hid her and her baby, where she did housework until the Russian army came in 1943.
As soon as it was possible to travel, Feiga took the children back. They remained in touch with Lilia’s adoptive mother and sister. After the family’s return to Odessa in 1945, her father was reunited with the family. Lilia finished school and then studied drafting technology. She became a factory engineer and later specialized as an engineer technologist. Lilia married in 1959 and had two children. In 1992, Lilia and her family immigrated to Canada. Her husband continued working in Toronto while she took care of her beloved mother until she passed away in 2001.
Lenka (Helena) Weksberg
LENKA (HELENA) WEKSBERG WAS BORN IN TACOVO, CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN 1926, ONE OF SIX SIBLINGS, FROM AN ORTHODOX FAMILY. IN APRIL 1944, THE FAMILY WAS DEPORTED TO THE GHETTO OF MATHESALKA, HUNGARY. ONE MONTH LATER THE FAMILY WAS DEPORTED TO AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU CONCENTRATION CAMP, WHERE HER MOTHER AND BROTHER WERE SELECTED BY DR. MENGELE FOR THE CREMATORIUM AND MURDERED.After surviving three months in Auschwitz, Lenka and her four sisters were transported to the slave labour camp in Geislingen. They survived due to a kind officer in the factory named Adolf Schoofs who put his life in danger to help them. After eight months they were deported to Alach concentration camp near Dachau. In Alach, Lenka was forced on a death march in the forest and was to be shot. Fortunately, the Nazis ran out of time and Lenka was liberated by the U.S. Army on April 29, 1945.
After the war, Lenka returned to Czechoslovakia and married in 1946. She moved to Israel in 1949 with her husband and daughter. In 1953, the family immigrated to Montreal. In 2006 after her husband passed away, Lenka moved to Toronto to be with her two children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Lenka decided to put all of her energy and passion into teaching and telling her story. She has authored two autobiographical books, Sometime Wonders Can Happen and The Clouds on a Clear Sky. Lenka has told her story to thousands of high school and adult groups in Canada, the US, Germany, Poland and Israel. One of the last lectures she gave was to her great grandson Dylan’s grade six class. Lenka’s passion also led her to Poland and Israel as a chaperone on March of Living in May 2000, accompanied by her granddaughter, Joanna.
In 2015, Lenka was invited to Geislingen. She was offered an apology and honoured at the factory where she was forced into slave labour. Resident historians in the town found her name on a transport list amongst the 800 names of young girls sent there by cattle car. Only Lenka and one other prisoner were found alive and well enough to travel to Geislingen. She unveiled a commemorative monument outside the very factory she was enslaved in. She gave multiple lectures to the entire town and spoke at the local high school.
This year Oxford films will release a documentary about Lenka. Filmed in 2017, it is almost ready for worldwide release. Lenka has had many honours in Toronto and worldwide, but her greatest hope for the future in her own words is: “Now, this is your time. For tomorrow is more important than yesterday. My most important message is although we cannot change the past, we can influence the future to live in harmony and peace. Never forget…”
Poem by Pavel Friedmann July 4, 1942
The ButterflyThe last, the very last,So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.Perhaps if the sun’s tears would singagainst a white stone….
Such, such a yellowIs carried lightly ‘way up high.It went away I’m sure because it wished tokiss the world goodbye.
For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,Penned up inside this ghettoBut I have found my people here.The dandelions call to meAnd the white chestnut candles in the court.Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.Butterflies don’t live in here,In the ghetto.
ABOUT PAVEL FRIEDMANNPavel Friedmann was born January 7, 1921, in Prague and deported to Terezín ghetto on April 26, 1942. He was murdered in the Oschweim (Auschwitz) death camp on September 29, 1944 at the age of 22.
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