Customer Reviews

I Never Saw Another Butterfly

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Terezin Concentration Camp held, between 1942 and 1944, fifteen thousand children under the age of fifteen years old, for various lengths of time, before the children were carted out to other camps to die. A few teachers came in with sparse quantities of art supplies, and they used art "lessons" as a way of offering art therapy. "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" is a representation of those surviving pictures, which are now housed at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, USA. Illustrating the pictures, as it were, are collections of poetry and prose, and excerpts from a few journals.

I wish I spoke Dutch (?) so that I could read contributor Helga Weissova's "Das Kunstlerische Schaffen" -- I'd like to see what else she has to say. I wish that Soña Spitzovă, who drew my favorite of the drawings ("Starlight In A Dark Room," page 53) hadn't died in Auschwitz before she was even fifteen years old.

The things these children saw! They noticed the trains, the transports. Helga Weissova did a painting of a woman, JUDE star on her clothing, whose hair was searched for lice. They also saw flowers in jelly jars on tables. They remembered their own beds.

I think that art exists, in part, to speak when we are no longer able to.

This book was purchased from my amazon.com wishlist. I think I'll be getting a copy for a friend who's in school to be an art therapist; I think she'll get a lot out of it.

...I never saw another butterfly... is a book which holds a collection of children's drawings and poems that were created at the Terezin concentration camp from 1942-1944. In this moving book several children's works are displayed, taken from a much larger collection. The book begins by telling the background of the Terezin concentration camp and then it lays out numerous beautiful pictures along with many moving poems. At the end of the book a short summary is given in the epilogue and afterword about the works of the children. Also included in the book is a catalog of the poems and drawings, naming the authors if known, their dates of birth, and their dates of death.
...I never saw another butterfly... is a moving illustration of what it was like for a child to live in a concentration camp during WWII. The drawings often depict a life full of beauty and it seemed amazing to me that the children were able to, at this time, see all the beautiful things around them even though they were in the midst of death. The poems on the other hand often portray the longing of wanting to be in a safe place elsewhere, and they also relate more of the harsh reality of what was really going on at the concentration camps. The book is tied together through the contrast of the brightly colored paintings with the dim spirit of the poems. The reader will instantly be amazed at the talents of these young children, most under the age of 14, and at the same time feel a horrible sense of pity for these children, whom most perished in Auschwitz. The book is a wonderful and diverse collection of works, although there could have been a more diverse collection of authors included, instead of multiple works by the same author.
It is amazing to notice that some of the children who drew some of the pictures survived the war and even some have gone on to be artists today. This mere fact leaves the reader with a little bit of hope that the unforgettable memories of these children will forever be painted into the public, so that everyone can remember them in honor.

This book of poetry and images is powerful yet simple. Having had prior experience with the play of the same name, I thought I was prepared, but I wasn't. The poetry and images those children of the Holocaust created are truly amazing. We've read Anne Frank and Elie Weisel, but these peopms of life in Terezin from a child's eyes is extremely powerful. Elia grew up too soon, and his books are of an adult's perspective...what the children saw and felt is much more powerfully represented in this book. It is a true must for poetry, WWII, or literature buffs alike!

I never saw another butterfly is an incredible collection drawings and poems written by children and adolescents in the Terezin concentration camp. The first hand emotional reactions to the torture and horror of the Holocaust is expressed in this book. This is a fantastic history lesson for young readers as well as adults to the horrifying Holocaust experience. The story of the children's teacher Friedl Dicer-Brandeis is incredible, as they define her as a gentle and kind woman, who ironically studied art in Germany. I highly recommend this book for any library and it is a must have for Language Arts and History teachers.

Although many people know that the children suffered just as much in the ghettos as the adults did, I think it is often overlooked. The adults in the ghettos are often focused on because they are the ones who had to make the decisions and deal with the day-to-day life. But, the children suffered too. They were aware of some of the problems around them and were aware of the differences in their lifestyles. They were aware that they had been stripped away from all they had ever known.

In the book "...I never saw another butterfly..." a vision of what the children saw and endured before many of them were killed is portrayed. The drawings show the children were partially aware of the terrible things going on and of their desire to once again be in a happier place. There are pictures of what they see around them at the time and pictures of the homes and families they remember from before they were put in the ghettos.

As for the poems and diary entries, they too showed how the children neglected to see how they were being oppressed. Some showed a strong sense of heritage, such as I am a Jew (57). The lines "I am a Jew and will be a Jew forever. Even if I should die from hunger." show how the children knew it was bad that they were hungry, but still had faith in their religion. The poem A Letter to Daddy (36) shows a child who wants to return to the life he once found to be normal. "You promised to bring me books because, truly, I have nothing to read [...] I will surely be grateful for this." This line shows the naivety of the child, who did not understand why he had no books to read. All of the poems and diary entries in the book show the sadness in the children and the pain they each endured by having all they had known taken away.

As a school teacher, I found a wonderful use for this book in my classroom. My 6th grade history class studies the Holocaust and was participating in the Houston Holocaust Museum's Butterfly Project. This book helped my students understand some of the feelings and problems faced by children housed at Terezin Concentration Camp during WWII.

Volavkova edits a wonderful compilation of children's art, poetry, and prose in "I never saw another butterfly." The most remarkable fact about this book is that the material was composed by children held in the Terezin concentration camp during World War II. The book presents the children's artistic talents that were fostered in the concentration camp especially by one woman, Freidl Dicker-Brandeis. Only two suitcases of material survived the war.

This book provides a unique glimpse into the lives of Jewish children during World War II. The pictures drawn and the words written by the children speak for themselves in this book. The pictures, poetry, and prose contrast wonderfully among one another. The editor does a good job in the placement of each specific work of art, joining words with pictures. The catalogs near the back of the book are helpful because they provide information about the works of art and the artists. This information would have been nice to have had while reading or examining each work.

The extras added into the book are quite appropriate. The foreword by Chaim Potok gives a superior background on the town of Terezin. In addition, it provides insight into the idea of Terezin being a form of propaganda that the Nazis employed to deceive relief workers. Both the epilogue by Jiri Weil and the afterword by Vaclav Havel are poignant reminders of the horrors these children faced.

This book entertained as much as it educated. It continues to serve as a reminder of consequences due to Nazi actions during World War II, especially on the lives of Jewish children.

A serious glimpse into the minds and hearts of the young Jewish authors and artisits of a Nazi concentration camp, this book leads the reader/viewer into the daily terrors and remarkably, the simple reamaining pleasures of life.An excellent resource for a World War II unit for all ages.

Only three of the poets and authors whose work is represented in this volume survived the Nazi Holocaust.

These works, however, are no more dead than the wings of butterflies mounted in a natural history museum.

They fly: They give the children voices for all time---not just the authors and poets' voices, but the voices of all 14,900 children who perished in Terezin from the arrival of the first transport in November 1941 to the ghetto's liberation in April 1945. Indeed, voices for all 141,000 Jewish people transported here from Germany, Holland, Poland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere, including the relative handful---16,832---who survived.

The works here are a testament to the human spirit.

I thought this book was very nicely done with regard to graphics and written elements. It really gives you an insight into how people deal with tragedies in their lives, and the process they take to rebuild them. Very inspirational, as well as informative.