The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh donated to The Butterfly Project at Plum Senior High School in remembrance of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust.

The Butterfly Project was started by San Diego Jewish Academy educator Jan Landau and artist Cheryl Rattner Price to teach the Holocaust in an engaging and accessible format. The project was inspired by the book “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” written by Pavel Friedmann (1942) while housed at Terezin/Theresienstadt. It is a collection of art and poetry, drawn and written by children who were imprisoned in the same concentration camp in northern Bohemia (currently the Czech Republic). 

The Butterfly Project is being completed in the Humanities elective course, "History of the Holocaust," available to high school juniors and seniors. Students responded to the project with compassion and curiosity, taking an interest in painting and learning about the history of the Holocaust. Painting will conclude at the end of March 2020.

Mrs. Rochelle Dunn, Social Studies Teacher at Plum Senior High School, says “The words of Mr. Howard Chandler, Auschwitz survivor (91), echo in my mind. He emphasizes that it is the job of the teacher to make sure people know what happened during the Holocaust. With the rise in anitsemitic and hate crimes across the U.S., I take this responsibility very seriously. Painting and displaying beautiful butterflies honors the victims and survivors and uncovers the ugliness at the core of hate-based ideologies.”

Paintings of the butterflies, which are a symbol of hope and transformation, will be permanently displayed in the social studies hallway at the high school to educate future generations.

For more information on The Butterfly Project, click here.