The Butterfly Project was initiated by the Holocaust Museum in Houston, Texas, in 2001 to honor the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust. The project's goal was to collect 1.5 million hand-crafted butterflies—one for each child victim. You can learn more about Holocaust Museum Houston's Butterfly Project here.
The Butterfly Project was inspired by Pavel Friedmann, a Jewish Czechoslovak poet who wrote the poem “The Butterfly” while in the Theresienstadt Ghetto. More than 12,000 children passed through the Terezin Concentration Camp, 90% of whom perished during the Holocaust. In 1944, Friedmann was transferred to Auschwitz where he was killed. His poem was later published in a book "I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944".
“The Butterfly”
The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly 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 good-bye.
For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live here,
in the ghetto.
Pavel Friedmann, June 4, 1942
Our goal is to create butterfly displays around campus and the Vincennes community to honor Holocaust victims and to give campus and the community the opportunity to engage with the display. We are open to displays in different forms of media including butterflies made of paper, ceramics, photography, digital art, etc. Contact Tiarra Basham at tiarra.basham@vinu.edu if you have questions, to submit photos or digital files of your butterflies, or would like to schedule a time to deliver your butterflies to be displayed in Shake library.
When working on your butterfly, we do encourage you to take a look at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museums database of over 600 ID cards to get inspiration from those who experienced the Holocaust. After all, these butterflies are a reminder of the lives lost.
You can use the below template to create your butterfly, or express your creativity and passions by using another medium.
Email Shake Library at libref@vinu.edu.
Call the Library Information Desk at 812-888-4165.
NEW: Text Shake Library at 888-993-8468 (VINU)
1002 North First Street; Vincennes, Indiana 47591
812-888-4165 | libref@vinu.edu
1002 North First Street; Vincennes, Indiana 47591