About

The Butterfly - Pavel Friedman

Pavel Friedman, born in 1921 in Prague, was deported in April 1942 to Terezin where he wrote the poem “The Butterfly.” His young life was cut short at Auschwitz-Birkenau where he died of typhus on September 29, 1944. This poem is his legacy and the legacy of the Holocaust.

The butterfly has become the international symbol for the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered in the Holocaust.

In 1938, the Nazis established Terezin in Czechoslovakia as a transit camp for Jews from Western Europe, many of whom were from Prague. As the international community became more aware of the systematic murdering of Jews, the International Red Cross came to Terezin in June 1944 to investigate conditions in Nazi camps.

Before their arrival, the Nazis concocted a gigantic hoax, altering the camp to appear as an ideal community, even to the point of having prisoners present musical concerts for the visit.

The Red Cross and many others were fooled. The Nazis had pulled off a great propaganda feat. With the inspection over, the Nazis resumed the deportation of Jews to other concentration camps.

More than 155,000 Jews passed though Terezin before it was liberated on May 8, 1945. A total of 35,440 people perished there while another 88,000 were deported to death camps elsewhere.