Saying I’m choked up doesn’t begin to capture it. Ten years ago, my students and I created something truly meaningful. Over the course of six months, we honored the memory of the children lost in the Holocaust by attempting to make 1.5 million butterflies. We managed around 40,000. This was my second attempt—the first was a personal project during college, a year after I participated in the March of the Living as a Broward Alumni.
In college, I set out to create a million butterflies, which I later buried as a symbolic act to give them a proper resting place. I also created a larger-than-life artistic interpretation of The Last Butterfly, a book that captures the art and poetry from the Terezin Concentration Camp. This piece represented the deep emotions the book stirred in me. The prisoners used recycled materials for their collages, a practice that continues to inspire both my personal art and teaching. Terezin was designed to deceive the outside world, showcasing doctors, music, and art to give the illusion that the Jewish people were treated well. In reality, they endured unimaginable suffering, and many lost their lives.
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