"This is a poem written by a child in a Nazi Concentration Camp, called Terezin. Recently my class did a play about these children who wrote poems and did drawings about their experiences.
The last, The very last,
So richly, brightly dazzling yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
Against a white stone.....
Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly way up high.
It went away, I'm sure because it wished to
kiss the world goodbye.
For seven weeks I've lived in here
Penned up inside this ghetto
But I have found my people here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut candles in the court.
Only, I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live here,
In the ghetto.
Here are a few more...
"He doesn't know the world at all.
He stays in his nest
And doesn't go out.
He doesn't know
What birds know best,
Nor what I want to sing about.
That the world is full of lovelyness."
"In Terezin
In the so called park
A queer old granddad sits
Somewhere in the so called park.
He wares a beard down to his lap
And on his head a little cap
Hard crust he crumbles in his gums
He's only got one single tooth.
Instead of soft rolls, lentil soup.
Poor old grey beard."
Please forward this to anyone you know and share what really happened. Of the worst, but also the best, of which the human heart is capable.
From, Piper
I absolutely love that you grandchildren are learning about man's inhumanity to man and developing your own compassion, a sympathetic heart and caring for your fellowman. Sometimes you have to learn about following the plan of Happiness our Father in Heaven has established for us by learning about what happens when people choose not to be obedient. I love the scripture,"Wickedness Never Was Happiness."
You are learning the insidious effects of racism and genocide and the notion of a superior race. I appreciate a thoughtful teacher that has taught you about the Holocaust through a poignant play called, "I Never Saw Another Butterfly." Some of these atrocities were also perpetrated against the Latter-day Saints in the early years. It is important that we love others and keep the commandments. I appreciate even more than your teacher, Piper...the Gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches us we are all brothers and sisters and children of one eternal Father. We must remember and learn from the history that you are learning now. And Con, thank you for forwarding the poems to us. They are beautiful. We love you all, Gramma and Grampa
You are learning the insidious effects of racism and genocide and the notion of a superior race. I appreciate a thoughtful teacher that has taught you about the Holocaust through a poignant play called, "I Never Saw Another Butterfly." Some of these atrocities were also perpetrated against the Latter-day Saints in the early years. It is important that we love others and keep the commandments. I appreciate even more than your teacher, Piper...the Gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches us we are all brothers and sisters and children of one eternal Father. We must remember and learn from the history that you are learning now. And Con, thank you for forwarding the poems to us. They are beautiful. We love you all, Gramma and Grampa
