By Olivia Newland and Carli Ruiz
Once again, the Dunellen High School Drama Club has prepared and presented a captivating performance, but this year it held a true, sentimental story that impacted the hearts of many. This year’s production, “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” is based on the works written by Celeste Raspanti. Directed by Mr.Spector, the play is about various Jewish children who wrote poetry and created numerous works of art during their imprisonment at concentration camps, awaiting their fate.
“I Never Saw Another Butterfly” was portrayed by the Dunellen High School Drama Club and presented by an array of talented students who truly and genuinely put hard work and effort into each and every one of their parts. It was a very emotional play presented by an incredible cast which depicted the emotions, and the lack thereof, of a variety of characters such as Raja, Elias, a Nazi, and the family and children of those part of the Holocaust.
It was a difficult play to present to the audience--a difficult story that many have heard, but a more unique one to the viewers of the play. “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” focused more on the innocents of the Holocaust and how some of the children, those who survived or not, lived through Terezin and made the best of a horrific situation.
“The play was well put together and reflected a very nice, yet sad, image of the Holocaust and the hard reality that the children had to face. It was a sad story but it was very beautiful in the sense that the butterflies meant and represented something to the children and painted an image of hope for the kids in the camps,” said Neri Lopez, a 2018 graduate from Dunellen High School who attended the play.
“I Never Saw Another Butterfly” is essentially a collection of poetry and works of art by Jewish children who lived in the concentration camp location in Terezin, also known as Theresienstadt. These works of art were created in secrecy at the camp in art classes held and taught by an Austrian artist and educator who went by the name of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. The play is mostly centered around the main character, Raja, who was one of the few children that survived their time at Terezin- watching classmates and family members being shipped off and sent to their unfortunate deaths.
Raja shares her story and her experiences living on the concentration camp and the hardships she faced, but also how she survived through it all and learned to focus on the brighter side of things. Raja taught other children of her experiences and gave them hope whilst trapped in the camp- she made them laugh and helped them envision butterflies and flowers behind the barbed wire, even if there weren’t any. Butterflies became a symbol of defiance and freedom- it gave them hope and allowed them to live happily even though they were awaiting transportation elsewhere.
Terezin was liberated in May 1945 yet only about a hundred children were alive when the liberation occurred, leaving very few to go home and return to their homes and families, or whatever remained of their previous lives. Also known as a "camp-ghetto," Terezin served three main purposes during its existence. It not only served as a transit camp for Czech Jews to be sent to killing centers, concentration camps, and forced-labor camps, but it also served as a ghetto-labor camp in itself. Terezin was used by Nazis in order to hide the nature of the deportations and the fact that Jews were physically annihilated rather than sent to work camps. It was also used as a holding pen for Jews based on their age, disabilities due to any past military services and based on their cultural beliefs. The Nazis expected, and hoped, that the terrible conditions of Terezin would fasten the deaths of the Jews, or at least leave them in a worse condition so they could deport any survivors to the East.
“I Never Saw Another Butterfly” was an emotional production that takes us back to a time of tragedy and reminds us that even when it doesn’t seem like it’s possible, we can always hold on to hope.
