I never saw another butterfly

During World War II the Gestapo used Terezin as a ghetto. The majority of the Jews sent there were scholars, professionals, artists and musicians, who were encouraged to lead creative lives.This was all part of a plan to deceive International Red Cross inspectors into believing that Jews were being treated humanely. This façade masked the fact that of the 144,000 Jews who were sent there, about 33,000 died of hunger, stress, disease, and an epidemic of Typhus, mostly as a result of the appalling conditions.About 88,000 were deported to Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

All the poems in this cycle were written 1942 and 1944.A total of around 15,000 children under the age of 15 passed through Terezin.Of these, only about 100 came back.There are 11 songs in the cycle, of which this evening you are going to hear 8.Each song expresses the thoughts, feelings, or concerns of the author.

In 6 of the eleven poems the name of the child is not known, and they are referred to as Anonymous.The other 5 are: Teddy L (surname not known):Eva Pickova:Pavel Friedmann:Miroslav Kosek:and A (first name not known) Lintovd.