Christine Tomasello, Author at The Butterfly Project

The Butterfly Project’s Education Team, led by Founder Jan Landau, comprises retired educators and second-generation Holocaust Survivors. Every year, they visit schools across San Diego and beyond, sharing personal stories and the lessons of the Holocaust.

Sonia Fox-Ohlbaum, a founding Education Team member, is a former educator and the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. She never expected to be doing this work for over a decade, but when asked what keeps her engaged in The Butterfly Project, she recalls one of her earliest classroom visits.

The teacher had confided in Sonia before the presentation that several students in her class had recently bullied one of their Jewish classmates by using antisemitic gestures. Sonia didn’t know while giving her talk which students had done the bullying, but after she spoke, she saw a young boy crying in his seat. The teacher’s nod confirmed—he was one of them.

Pulling him gently aside, she asked, “Did we say something that was very hurtful or painful to you?”

The boy looked up. He said, “I didn’t know this was real.”

This moment took place years ago, yet it remains a powerful example of why The Butterfly Project is needed in today’s classrooms. In the fall of 2024, teachers reported swastikas scrawled on desks and in bathroom stalls, hateful language spoken carelessly in their classrooms, and students of all ages, races, and religions being targeted for their identities. No one program can erase these issues, but personal stories like Sonia’s have a unique power.

They can turn ignorance into understanding, and shape indifference into empathy.

When Sonia visits a classroom, she always brings her father’s striped uniform–a remnant from his own life in a concentration camp. The moment she unfolds it, silence fills the room.

“I let the students touch it,” she says. “I tell them, ‘You are now the witnesses. If someone ever denies the Holocaust, you met four women whose parents survived. You touched a uniform that belongs in a museum.’”

Educators share how deeply these lessons resonate. A teacher in California said her students were “deeply moved” by hearing our Education Team’s stories and painting butterflies in remembrance of a child who was murdered. A teacher in New York reflected,

“Even though I work with kids every day, I forget how many have never heard about the Holocaust. Their wide eyes and great questions give me chills. This small experience will stay with them forever.”

Why does this work matter?

Over and over, the answer is clear to Sonia: so that history isn’t forgotten. So students recognize their own power and responsibility to stand up for what’s right. So they choose to be kind, over and over again, even–and especially–when the choice to be kind is difficult to make.

Through The Butterfly Project, stories like Sonia’s connect the past to the present. By sharing these stories and participating in acts of remembrance, we are all able to bear witness to the Holocaust. In doing so, we ensure that these lessons belong not just to the past–but to us all.

As we witness in one community after another, decency is being cast aside as increased incidents of anti-Jew hatred are becoming a weekly event. We are bombarded by it online, in our schools and communities, and over our freeway bridges and in windows of tall buildings. This hatred directed at Jewish people, includes “justifications” and revivals of old tropes against Jews as devious citizens and increased vitriol towards the State of Israel. Could this behavior once again become normalized? This terrifying potential of unchecked hatred, demands that we must do more and educate about this history repeatedly. What else can we do to increase accurate understanding of this history, how can we ensure that the lessons learned from the Holocaust prevent further atrocities?

We must continue to educate AND we must look for unique ways to amplify the importance and make it easier to become an upstanders in an increasingly harsh world.

Take a moment and consider all you can do to stand up for others and demonstrate the power of one person making a difference. Consider joining together with others in as many ways as you can…some might be quite unexpected as you can see below!

Take a look at this video above and see this group of individual motorcyclists in separate cities that came together, 65 individuals acting in unison as UPSTANDERS through their international group, the Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance (JMA) They took a stand for many months and years to support the work of The Butterfly Project. They reached out as upstanders to their communities to bring attention and much needed funds to help us increase our reach into schools around the country.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

Upstanders lift our hopes when we lose faith in humanity. Powerful moments when Holocaust survivors witness upstanders!

Thank you to the JMA for bringing much needed support for our work and for inspiring us beyond measure. We never want to turn away any teacher that asks for scholarships so they can participate fully in our program. We work together to empower more young people to become upstanders for justice.

Please feel free to share this post and video so that we remind everyone that one person can truly make a difference and together we are making a difference one butterfly at a time.

By guest author Maren Oom Galarpe, TBP Board Member and Director of the Arts at St. Mary’s School

How do we make the Holocaust accessible to students? What’s at stake, for them, for us, for the world? But equally important, what can we learn from working with one another? – Sondra Perl

As an arts educator and perpetual student of life, I carry a great deal of continuous wonder and inquiry throughout my days. The questions above from Sondra Perl, author and Senior Program Director at The Olga Lengyel Institute (TOLI), resonated with me throughout my journey to Germany and Poland. They floated through a combination of silent and celebratory moments, continuously reminding me that there is so much to learn from others in the process of becoming a better educator, leader, human.
In June, I traveled as a Board member, conference presenter and ambassador of The Butterfly Project. Cheryl Rattner Price and I met contacts in Cottbus and Berlin, Germany. Then we presented at TOLI’s teacher seminar in partnership with POLIN- the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw, Poland.

I was excited to meet educators and administrators abroad. What ideas would we share? What will it be like with various native languages spoken amongst us? What is working and not working in our efforts to deliver high quality, impactful Holocaust education that provokes students to take positive action? These questions, like Perl’s questions above, swirled through my head. But again, it was Perl’s last question above, that gets to the heart of this recent trip abroad: …what can we learn from working with one another?
It was the people we met and spent time with that made this trip so impactful. If I were to begin to tell you the stories face to face, you’d see me get misty-eyed in the process. We formed beautiful, authentic connections with educators, scholars and community leaders in both countries. For Cheryl, it was sometimes a special face-to-face meeting with a relationship that developed several years over emails and phone calls. Connecting to others abroad, on their turf, to collaborate and co-create them, was an incredibly invigorating feeling. We share a passion for Holocaust and human rights education, and the feeling for me was affirming and activating.

Cottbus, Germany

Nicole Nocon, a resident and journalist in Cottbus, warmly welcomed us upon arrival at the train station on a sunny day in the Eastern region of Germany. There is much to share about Nicole and her passion and dedication to The Butterfly Project! She introduced us to the primary school Bewegte Grundschule, which welcomed The Butterfly Project in January for our Connecting USA and Germany event as a way to build a school-to-school relationship with La Jolla Country Day School (developed and led by Steve Schindler). I was told this school was once named after Adolf Hitler during a period of its history. I reflected on the important work and recent connections made through residents of Cottbus and the Schindler family, now residing in San Diego. These intersecting family stories of past and present.

Schoolchildren at Bewegte Grundschule hold up the sign they made for the students at La Jolla Country Day School.

The butterfly installation grows at Bewegte Grundschule in Cottbus, Germany.

The more I learned about Cottbus, the more I knew that this was the beginning of more to come. The children were very proud of their installations and newly established relationships with La Jolla Country Day School and Steve Schindler. They were also excited to meet Cheryl. They had profound questions to ask her. Before departing, we joined the children, parents and teachers in adding several more butterflies to their installation. We are making history with Bewegte Grundschule as the first school in Germany to participate in The Butterfly Project!

Teachers from other parts of Germany drove to Cottbus to see The Butterfly Project’s film, NOT the Last Butterfly, and have a dialogue about their own personal histories growing up in Germany. We shared stories and dreamed up possibilities of continuing the global movement of The Butterfly Project – one rooted in compassion through arts education. We shared time together in two languages, at the school and on an outdoor picnic at Fürst-Pückler-Park Branitz- all thanks to the coordination and kindness from Nicole Nocon. We will continue to work with Nicole as projects continue in Cottbus.
To help Nicole expand The Butterfly Project in Germany, the visionary team of Berlin-based organization FEZ is taking on the task of creating thousands of butterflies during their summer programming. FEZ Berlin is Europe’s biggest non-profit children’s, youth and family centre, and they will be bringing The Butterfly Project to Berlin schools in the coming year. We want to say a special thank you to this creative team – Michael Raj Kunsmann, Nubia and Verena!

Katarzyna Łaziuk and Oana Nestian Sandu, TOLI Poland Seminar organizers/presenters.

Warsaw

Cheryl and I had the honor of presenting The Butterfly Project to participants of the TOLI Poland seminar in partnership with POLIN – the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
We were warmly welcomed by Katarzyna Laziuk (Kasia), an Ambassador to POLIN and the national coordinator for TOLI in Poland. She is a leader in her community and an exceptional human being. Cheryl had been in contact with her for quite some time, but this was their first in-person meeting.

When the TOLI seminar began, I was impressed beyond measure with the speakers:

Mark Berez, President, TOLI
H.E. Anna Azari, Ambassador of Israel to Poland
Dan Hastings, U.S. Embassy in Poland
Lucja Koch, Head of Education Department (POLIN)
32 teachers in Poland were selected through a competitive application process to participate in this TOLI seminar: Learning from the Past~ Acting for the Future. The aim of this seminar is to “contribute to increasing the quality of education regarding the Holocaust and human rights in Poland. The program provides a rich opportunity to integrate national and international approaches in teaching about these topics and in understanding the contemporary relevance of this important part of modern history.”

Survivor Assia Raberman presents at the TOLI Conference.

A highlight of the seminar was listening to the three-generation Survivor testimony from relatives Assia Raberman and relatives, nephew and TOLI President Mark Berez and great-niece Jennifer Rotker. To hear and see the stories connect across generations was something new and special for me. Spending time with this family at the seminar, including Mark’s wife, Carole Lustig-Berez, was so memorable. Listening to their stories and learning more about the work they are now doing through TOLI was powerful and inspiring. Once again, I find myself learning so much by sharing time with others.

Oana Nestian Sandu, Director of European Programs for TOLI, is another person I am extremely grateful to have met. She led a very impactful session on identity and stereotypes. It always feels good when one can walk away from a conference session with so many practical and authentic tools for application. Oana is a scholar and educational leader that I hope to learn more from, and with. TOLI is expanding their programming, and so is The Butterfly Project. We are reaching more people, across generations and geographic regions. Isn’t this wonderful news for humanity?
We are empowering humanity to be “upstanders” rather than bystanders-especially our youth. In Cottbus, students recently saw a swastika on a wall near their school. They answered back by wanting to turn it into a butterfly. Our youth are creating change. They want to make an impact, and they don’t need to wait until they grow up. They are making a difference now, and we must encourage them to keep going and believe in the power of loving kindness- across the globe…now and well into our future. I’m on board; are you?

By guest author Arlene Keeyes, member of The Butterfly Project’s Education Team (a 2019 update)

This year has seen some new and exciting changes for The Butterfly Project’s Education Team, consisting of Co-Founder and lead teacher, Jan Landau, along with educators Arlene Keeyes, Sonia Fox-Ohlbaum, and Judi Gottschalk. First, we have brought in several new speakers, originating from our Speakers Bureau. Next, we have experienced a significant increase in classroom and other presentations by the Education Team. Lastly, we were filmed by Ron and Karen Cook of Ron Cook Media.

Speakers Bureau

During this last year a Speakers Bureau was established to bring in other Second-Generation Children of Holocaust Survivors to join the Education Team in sharing their family’s personal stories with students in the classroom. This has been a successful addition to our program. We want extend our sincere thanks for a job well done to, Jack Morgenstern, Karen Levenson, Esther Hogue, and Josh Wortman. Their help is much appreciated!

Education Team in the Classroom

It has been a wonderfully productive year! Classroom presentations have increased significantly this past school year, 2018-19. The Ed. Team has gone to thirty-two schools and shared our lessons with one hundred six classes. A total of two hundred ninety-seven kits were used from January through June. An additional 2300 hundred butterflies were painted by La Jolla Country Day School students and staff. Knox Middle School invited us to teach TBP to their entire school! Other groups we made presentations to were: Santee/Lakeside Rotary, American History Theater group, and Congregation Beth Am parents and students. The Education Team partnered in a teacher in-service with the organization Facing History and Ourselves, hosted at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista. Teachers from across all disciplines and high schools in Chula Vista attended, including Chula Vista High School and Hilltop High School, as well as Sweetwater District Office representatives. This training was generously funded by Rose Foundation and more than 1,500 students will be engaged in our programming!

Education Team at Montgomery Middle School

While we presented our personal stories to all 8th grade students at Montgomery Middle School in El Cajon, we were filmed by Ron and Karen Cook of Ron Cook Media. They are employed by various school districts to share the good things happening in their schools. Ron and Karen graciously shared their finished product to promote TBP on Facebook and other media outlets.

Montgomery Middle School – Butterfly Project from East County Style on Vimeo.

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Since 1945, Jewish Family Service of San Diego has been and continues to be a vital support system for Holocaust Survivors in San Diego. After more than 4 years of careful planning, The Butterfly Project and Jewish Family Service are thrilled to reveal the Remembrance and Hope mural, an installation showing San Diego Holocaust Survivors’ stories through symbolism, artifacts, photos, butterflies, reflection space, digital components and more. This installation was created by Cheryl Rattner Price, Executive Director of The Butterfly Project, who felt deeply honored for the opportunity to represent our local Holocaust Survivors in this way. It is a chance for community members and leadership to commit more than ever to educating and empowering young people to stand up to injustice and create a more peaceful world. Thank you to JFS’s Susan Cohn, Sol Kempinski, and Michael Hopkins, an artist’s dream team who made this a priority in our community. So proud of our Jewish Family Service of San Diego for all they do. Thank you to everyone who came and wanted to come, we will make future mini tours together! Please email us if you would like a tour to see the mural. (more…)

Statement from Sonia Ancoli Israel, Past President of Congregation Beth El

Holocaust Survivors. This title, these words, heard and read over the last 70 years, is taking on new meaning today, as these heroes are dying, as their chance to tell their stories and to insure that we do remember, is getting more and more rare. Now it is up to us, Second generation, Third generation, Fourth, and now even Fifth generation. Now it is up to all of us. And so, seven years ago, when I took over as President of Beth El, I became devoted to building a Holocaust memorial on our campus – a memorial to all those who were lost. I wanted recognition of the horror of the past, combined with a promise of a decent and fair and humane future for us, always.

Sonia Ancoli Israel Past President Congregation Beth El and Holocaust Memorial Committee Leader for San Diego’s Community Shoah Memorial at JCC and now 20 years later the Memorial at CBE.

A decent and fair and humane future. Seems that future in not here yet. As it turns out, our families are still being murdered. We can’t not talk about the tragedy, the horrific act of murder against innocent people, just because they are Jewish – right in our own backyard – in our own places of worship. The shootings this past Shabbat, the attack on Chabad of Poway by a white supremacist, just reminds us that the hatred is still out there.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of Lori Kaye, of blessed memory, and a rufuah shlema to Rabbi Goldstein, 8-year old Noya Dahan and Almog Peretz, as well as all those who were traumatized by these events. Anti-Semitism is not going away. This white supremacist was not crazed. He was evil. He was so ignorant, mis-informed and uneducated about who we really are. ‘Never again’ takes on a new meaning. Tikun Olam takes on a new meaning – repair the world that feels like it is really broken. Repair the world by teaching love and stamping out hate. We, as Jews are strong now. We can stand up and fight. Education takes on a new meaning. Let’s fight with education.

Helen Segal in front of her poem created for the memorial. Below, Sonia Ancoli Israel shares her parents story of survival with more than 250 congregants.

Statement from Helen Segal, artist and muralist

In the words of Leonard Cohen, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
When Cheryl and I began conceptualizing ideas for this project we determined we didn’t just want to create a panorama only of tragedy but to suggest that despite the horror of the Holocaust the Jewish people have survived and flourished. After much research and introspection, we decided to construct This Tree of Life. It is a recognition and condemnation of the darkness but also a prayer for rebirth and growth toward the light.
The recent attack in our midst is a strong reminder that misfortune can occur at any moment. But we refuse to allow hatred to take over in our hearts and evil to prevail.
The engineering of the memorial was a challenge, translating a small initial sketch into a 30 by 9-foot installation. I began by drawing a full scale chalk outline on my studio floor, followed by cutting manageable size templates out of board like material that provided the trees form. I’m simplifying the process here, but essentially I then individually mosaiced these templates in my studio. We then transported all 30 plus pieces to Beth El and assembled each as if they were a jigsaw onto the wall. My bruised and bleeding fingers and aching muscles were self-evidence of the pure physicality of it. With the laying of each tile, pebble, mosaic and butterfly I contemplated the enormity of the history that this piece represents.”
To read more about this Holocaust memorial and dedication ceremony, please read this article from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Pictures from Dedication Ceremony

30 foot x 9 foot wide Holocaust Memorial created by Helen Segal. Many materials to symbolize the Holocaust and New Life. Glass, Jerusalem stone, mixed metal, stone and 661 ceramic butterflies painted by the students at congregants at CBE.

L-R Artist Helen Segal, Cheryl Rattner Price, and Sonia Ancoli Israel join together to light the 6th memorial candle on Yom Ha Shoah and during dedication of Congregation Beth El’s Holocaust Memorial

By Cheryl Rattner Price, Executive Director & Co-Founder
It cannot be stressed enough how important the lessons of the Holocaust are to the future of humanity. For the past six to seven generations, the Holocaust has been taught in classrooms around the country and across the globe to ensure that the world never forgets the atrocities that occurred. And yet, as time goes by and we become more removed from the history, the lessons from the Holocaust don’t seem to be the educational priority they once were.
The New York Times reported in April 2018 that the Holocaust is “fading from memory”. In this worrisome article, they reported upsetting data such as:

66% of Millennials can’t say what Auschwitz was
58% of Americans believe something like the Holocaust can happen again
52% believe that Hitler came to power through force
41% of Americans believe that fewer than 2 million Jewish people were killed in the Holocaust

Despite these statistics however, 93% of people surveyed said that feel that Holocaust education should be taught in schools, suggesting that the country agrees that learning these critical lessons from that dark time are of utmost importance.

Our Work is More Important Than Ever

The Butterfly Project is both honored and humbled to be a key player in Holocaust education in classrooms across the country. We are proud to report a significant increase in our classroom visits and butterfly kit programming in the 2017-2018 school year, which tells us that despite the statistics shown above, communities around the country are more committed than ever to educating their youth about the dangers of hatred and bigotry, and the power of one person to make a difference.
We have seen a significant increase in schools bringing The Butterfly Project into classrooms since 2016, with more teachers came to us in the first four months of 2018 than in the entire school year of 2017. Our Education Team visited 64 classrooms in the 2017-2018 school year, telling their families’ stories and teaching about the Power of One to more than 2,000 students. Another 21 San Diego classrooms participated in our programming on their own. Notably, some of these highly motivated teachers are not only bringing The Butterfly Project to their classrooms, but they are also creating beautiful installations from their students’ butterflies to serve as reminders to students to be Upstanders in their communities and as memorials to the 1.5 million children who were killed.
At this time, we want to highlight some of the incredible butterfly memorials that have been installed at schools in the 2017-2018 school year.

Clarkstown High School North – Rockland, NY

Two educators at Clarkstown High School North, Maggie Keuerleber and Shaina Dunn, attended a local screening of NOT The Last Butterfly and brought the idea to Art Department Chair Nancy Diamond, who then piloted The Butterfly Project with one class. They were so moved by the experience that Nancy and 7 other teachers stopped all other projects to have students exclusively focused on The Butterfly Project. In February 2018, 500+ students heard Holocaust Survivor Sonia Goldstein’s story and experience during the Holocaust. Butterflies were paired and painted with biographies of children who died during the Holocaust. In one week, 1,020 butterflies were made from clay, glazed and ready for the kiln. A site was selected on the front of the school, on the brick face, and 20 students volunteered after school, completing the installation in May 2018. Students were so moved by the lessons they learned and proud of the lasting memorial they created!

South Orangetown Middle School – Blauvelt, NY

In 2017, our film NOT The Last Butterfly was included in Rockland NY’s Jewish Film Festival and several students in leadership at South Orangetown Middle School’s attended. Next they petitioned Principal Dr. Karen Tesik to bring The Butterfly Project to their school and being a school that was already nominated as an official “School to Watch”, she approved the concept and empowered the students to lead the way. Over the course of 2017 and 2018, students painted 1,000 butterflies. In April 2018, The Butterfly Project had the privilege of being brought in to the school with our film and they unveiled these remarkable butterfly displays that include poetry along with hundreds of butterflies. We are proud to be associated with you, as you are doing an amazing job educating about the Holocaust and preventing bullying. Thank you to Micki Leader of Rockland Jewish Film Festival for your belief in our film and to Lynn and Dan Lehrfeld for all of your support.

Weber Middle School – Port Washington, NY

Jeff Moss, an English teacher, and Holly Gober, a social studies teacher, partnered together to bring The Butterfly Project to Weber Middle School in Port Washington, NY to enrich their current Holocaust curriculum. Starting with students conducting research, they worked with their students for two years to create butterflies, some from scratch, to transform the area outside their school’s auditorium into a dignified space for a unique butterfly memorial display. As you look up, the butterflies seem to be in flight and embrace freedom.

Montgomery Middle School – San Diego, CA

Dana Zuschin teaches 8th grade at Montgomery Middle School in San Diego, CA, with her teaching partner Jacob DeGering. Together they have been expanding on teaching the Holocaust in meaningful ways. Dana and Jacob formed part of our focus group for developing lessons to go with our film. For the last several years, our Education Team has been presenting their families’ stories of survival to their students. The installation shown here is a multi-year effort, and is composed of 360 butterflies.

Valley Middle School – Carlsbad, CA

Sue DeWulf, Art Teacher at Valley Middle School in Carlsbad, had a vision. She learned about The Butterfly Project, brought in Mike and Manya Wallenfels, local Holocaust Survivors to share their stories of survival. Next she challenged her talented advanced art students to create 1,000 butterflies out of clay so that the school would have a lasting memorial, paying tribute to the lessons that they learned and in remembrance of the 1.5 million children murdered in the Holocaust.

San Jose Middle School – Novato, CA

Educator Deborah Baraban of San Jose Middle School in Novato, CA heard about The Butterfly Project through Facing History and Ourselves and that set everything in motion. She and her colleagues, who were all 8th grade teachers, were teaching a unit about the Holocaust that included history and Eli Wiesel’s book Night. They utilized The Butterfly Project as a culminating activity and put together plans for a permanent installation at the school that will be added to over the years. Read more about their experience on their blog post.

Our Work Is Not Done

The fact that more teachers than ever are using The Butterfly Project to help them effectively teach the important lessons of the Holocaust is a good sign, but it does not mean our work is done. Not even close…
The Butterfly Project recognizes that we need to develop and grow our programming to expand our impact, and we have a 3-part plan that we created to ensure we can reach far more students next year.

Expand Our Education Team: We are working hard this summer to expand our approach to classroom visits. This includes revising and refreshing the curriculum that our team brings into the classrooms, and adding Educators and Second Generation dyads to our current Education Team. By increasing the number of people on our Education Team, we can increase the number of local schools we can visit in coming years. We are also developing a satellite Education Team in the Los Angeles area that will be modeled on our pilot in San Diego and made up of Educators and Second Generation members from that community. This will allow us to expand our in-classroom programming outside of San Diego County.
Launch Our Interactive Educational Traveling Exhibit: We are also developing an interactive exhibit that will help us to reach more underserved schools. Programming will allow students to engage with oral history, interactive lessons, literature, historical documents, archival photographs, rare artifacts and attend film screenings. All participants will paint a butterfly in honor of one of the 1.5 million children who were killed in the Holocaust, which will then be included in a community memorial installation. Programming will also include events for the general public. We will be partnering with local school districts to develop programming for schools to visit our Exhibit, which is expected to be completed in late 2018/early 2019. To learn more about this exhibit, please read this blog post about its launch.
Continue Our Teacher Training: We are gearing up to provide local school districts with ½ day teacher training for their schools, an effort with a long term view to ensure that educators are well-equipped to teach these meaningful lessons to students for years to come.

As you can see, The Butterfly Project is more committed than ever to ensure that students across the country are able to participate in these meaningful lessons to learn how to remember the past, act responsibly in the present, and create a more peaceful future. In the 2018-2019 school year, we want to focus our efforts on Title 1 schools and underserved communities. If you are interested in supporting our work and ensuring that we are able to reach schools who may not have the resources to bring us in, please consider sponsoring a classroom. Your support will directly impact the lives of 36 students, who will carry these lessons forward into their families and communities, creating an immeasurable impact in the world.

By Cheryl Rattner Price, Executive Director & Co-Founder
The last few months have manifested an epic level of productivity for The Butterfly Project. Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Ha Shoah in Hebrew), which occured this year in April, has been a driving force in the activities over the past few months, and The Butterfly Project was involved in commemoration ceremonies all across the country. Our film NOT The Last Butterfly was often included in the events to raise awareness of the dangers of hatred and bigotry in the world.

As this article in the New York Times shows, there is a concerning lack of knowledge and awareness about the Holocaust in today’s youth. The timing of these commemorations is critical, as we take note of the painful and troubling increase in racism and bigotry that is plaguing our nation. We are so proud of our expanding community of teachers, volunteers and champions of The Butterfly project, many of whom are 2nd and 3rd Generations of Holocaust Survivors, who are working tirelessly to make sure that the world never forgets.
The timing of these commemorations is also critical, as several members of our beloved Holocaust Survivor community have died.
In just the last few months we lost Agathe Ehrenfried z”l (mother of Judi Gottschalk) and Gussie Zaks z”l (mother of Jack Morgenstern and Marcia Rosenberg). In addition, I shared this on our Facebook Page about Ela Weissberger z”l:

My heart aches. It is with deep sorrow that I share the news that Ela Weissberger z”l passed away on the first night of Passover, Friday March 30th. She was surrounded by her beloved family.

Anyone who was lucky enough to be swept into in the magnetic and loving pull of the one and only Ela was forever changed for the better. Not a cliché… Ela spent her lifetime sharing her story of survival and giving love and encouragement to others especially in order to further Holocaust education, art, music and of course, children. She adored the young ones she met and was thrilled that the love was mutual. Ela was a living legend for countless thousands of children in her decades of speaking to schools and community events about being a child prisoner of Terezin Concentration Camp. Ela was proud that as a child in Terezin she was casted as the cat in the children’s opera Brundibar and throughout her life she traveled the globe to join the children’s cast on stage to sing the final victory song. In the last 2 years, Ela even journeyed to Uruguay and Russia!

We are so blessed that Ela loved The Butterfly Project so much that we were able to bring her to San Diego and journey with her and her loving daughter Tammy back to Terezin in 2015 highlighting her in our film NOT The Last Butterfly.

It was here and in Prague that we witnessed her pay tribute to her beloved teacher Friedl Dicker Brandeis, and met some of her dearest friends. Laughing and feeling loved was easy when you were around someone as playful as Ela. She had a heart of gold but was no pushover! It has been an epic journey and I feel so personally privileged to have spent such quality time dreaming big dreams together about art and butterflies. Ela will live forever in every butterfly painted and in the hearts of all she met. My heart is heavy. We need to carry on her message of hope. May her memory be a blessing. Deepest condolences to her daughter Tamar Grinshpon and family.

Passing the Torch

We are in the process of creating educational chapters to accompany our film, one of which is appropriately entitled “Passing the Torch” We interviewed our amazing Education Team (Jan Landau, Arlene Keeyes, Sonia Fox-Ohlbaum, and Judi Gottschalk), and Tamar (Ela’s daughter). Our objective is to assist educators and 2nd/3rd Generations to keep sharing the stories of their beloved family members to students, be a resource to help make the Holocaust more understood through these personal stories of survival, and to keep these stories alive in history.

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Below are some of the wonderful communities that included The Butterfly Project in their Yom HaShoah commemoration events.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (Simi Valley, CA)

In January, The Butterfly Project partnered with Facing History and Ourselves to present a training at Reagan Library for 33 local educators. In April, 600+ students from those 33 teachers came together to paint butterflies after hearing Holocaust Survivor James Bachner’s story. The butterflies currently have a temporary home in this beautiful installation at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, designed by the Youth Council of Simi Valley. And next, there will be butterfly installation memorials in LA and Simi Valley from the painted butterflies! Thank you to Rebekah Harding, Jeff Lockwood and Whitney Pagan of the Reagan Library, and Kristin Tignac of the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center and the Youth Council of Simi Valley.
[envira-gallery id=”3026″]

Valley Outreach Synagogue (Calabasas, CA)

Julie Goren has been a dedicated partner to The Butterfly Project for quite some time, bringing our film and programming to Valley Outreach Synagogue and creating this beautiful mural. She also has volunteers come to her home monthly to help The Butterfly Project assemble kits to go into classrooms across the country. Julie has dedicated countless hours and created a strong band of volunteers. Thank you to Carla Adivi, Education Director and Rabbi Ron Li-Paz for their support of this initiative.

Shames JCC on the Hudson (Tarrytown, NY) & JCC of Mid-Westchester (Scarsdale, NY)

We would like to extend a special thanks to Maida Silver, Westchester Director
UJA-Federation’s Engage Jewish Service Corps, whose hard work, dedication, and vision helped make this event an engaging and powerful experience for the Shamess JCC and JCC of Mid-Westchester communities. We would also like to thank the following people for all of their help and support: Karen Kolodny, Executive Director, JCC of Mid-Westchester; Susan Groner, Assistant to Executive Director and Director Program Operations, JCC of Mid-Westchester; Jill Gold. Engage Site Coordinator, JCC of Mid-Westchester; Millie Jasper, Executive Director, Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center; Andrew Ergas, Executive Director, Shames JCC on the Hudson; Jen Labovitz, Director of Marketing & Communications, Shames JCC on the Hudson, Melissa Baer, Engage Site Coordinator, Shames JCC on the Hudson.

Tifereth Israel Synagogue (San Diego, CA)

Tifereth Israel hosted a film screening and butterfly painting event for Yom Hashoah. There was incredible sisterhood at Tifereth Israel, and so many others raising the bar on meaningful events with The Butterfly Project. A special thank you to: Jan Landau, Arlene Cymberg Keeyes, Judy Stern, Michelle Barbour, Beth Klareich, Pam Stern, Olga Worm, Roxanne Schindler Katz, Marlene Sasson Recht, Jack Morgenstern, and so many others who worked tirelessly to make this day a success! Thank you go Judi Ehrenfried Gottschalk for her generous underwriting of the film screening.
After this morning we had our San Diego Yom Ha Shoah commemoration and had a chance to honor and get a group photo of our beloved Survivors.

Temple Solel (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA)

A meaningful event at Temple Solel, with two film screenings and butterfly painting after the students had their lessons. Fantastic and insightful questions from students and adults during the Q & A. They are adding these butterflies to their current installation! Thank you to Ellen Fox and Debby Cooperman Stone for all of your hard work and dedication.

Touro College (Brooklyn, NY)

Dr. Shoshanah Findling brought The Butterfly Project and NOT The Last Butterfly to Touro College Graduate School of Education. Over 140 educators and educators-in-training were in attendance.

March of the Living (Poland)

Thank you to Marcia Tatz Wolner for involving The Butterfly Project with this year’s March of the Living. Students from San Diego and the Western US Region, along with students from South Africa, painted butterflies in Krakow and Warsaw. Butterflies were given to JCC Krakow and POLIN Museum of the History of the Polish Jews in Warsaw. More than 14,000 people attended the March of the Living this year.

Israeli Scouts (Tzofim) (Sunnyvale, CA, San Diego, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Phoenix, AZ)

So proud of May Dror, Shaliach of Shevet Pisga in Las Vegas and everyone who helped the Israeli Scouts! Look at these focused and dedicated young people, learning and creating such beauty to memorialize the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust! Kol Ha Kavod! We are also honored that other Israeli Scouts Groups participated this year, including Shevet Hamifratz (led by Noy Finanser) in Sunnyvale, CA, who did lessons and butterfly painting with 5th grade as part of Good Deeds Day; Shevet Shemesh (led by Hadar Hamu) in Phoenix, AZ, who hosted a butterfly painting event for 3rd-12 grades; and Shevet Galim (led by Danni Berenholtz) in San Diego, CA.

By Cheryl Rattner Price, Executive Director & Co-Founder

In 2006, Jan Landau and I started Zikaron V’Tikvah (Hebrew for Remembrance & Hope), which is now called The Butterfly Project. It began with the idea to take Holocaust education out of the history books and provide a way for students to process these difficult stories through the use of expressive arts.
Almost 12 years later, our educational and arts programming has reached approximately 188,000 participants in over 180 schools and universities, 75 Jewish organizations (including synagogues and JCCs), 4 U.S.-based Holocaust Museums, and 2 Presidential Libraries, and has engaged schools and communities in over 20 states and 11 countries (including Poland, Latvia, Canada, Australia, Czech Republic, Uruguay, and Mexico). Our marvelous Education Team reached over 2,000 local students in 2017 alone!
And now, we have decided it is time to grow our efforts and deepen our reach to touch thousands more participants each year. We are proud to officially announce the launch of our newest program!

TBP’s Multi-Media Traveling Exhibit

We are currently developing a multi-media traveling exhibit that will create a unique educational and art memorial-making experience to students and community members across the country. The exhibit will include Holocaust artifacts, our own educational films with oral histories, essays, art and poetry from children at Terezin Concentration Camp, which inspired the launch of The Butterfly Project. The exhibit will be designed to engage both Jewish and non-Jewish families, students, educators and the public, and will be displayed in Jewish Day schools, public and private schools, universities, community organizations, synagogues, libraries, and museums.
Like our other school-based programming, this traveling exhibit will provide a gentle approach to learn about this painful topic and process difficult emotions like hopelessness, anger, and feeling disempowered. Each butterfly will be connected to a child who perished, creating a more personal connection and greater empathy, encouraging participants to speak out against injustice today. It will promote much-needed dialogue in communities near and far about our collective responsibility to remember the past, act responsibly in the present and take part in Tikkun Olam, courageous actions healing the world’s injustices.

Funding This Program

We are actively seeking funding to help with the research and development of this new program, and have recently submitted two grant proposals for significant support. We welcome your input and support if you know of any grants or sponsorship opportunities that we can apply for, as well as your direct support to help move us closer to the completion of this project. If you would like to make a donation toward this effort, please click here or contact Cheryl Rattner Price directly.
We are honored to have your support year after year. The Butterfly Project has touched hundreds of thousands of lives so far, yet there is so much more work to be done.

Sonia’s Story: The Power of Bearing Witness