The Butterfly

Pavel Friedman

1942

He was the last. Truly the last.
Such yellowness was bitter and blinding
Like the sun’s tear shattered on stone.
That was his true color.
And how easily he climbed, and how high.
Certainly, climbing, he wanted
To kiss the last of my world.
I have been here seven weeks.
Ghettoized.
Who loved me have found me,
Daisies call to me,
And the branches…
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Creator Bio

Pavel Friedman

1921–1944

Born in Prague, Pavel Friedman was a poet. He was deported to Theresienstadt in April 1942. In June of that year he inscribed “The Butterfly” on a piece of paper that was discovered after the war. In September 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz. The poem was donated to the Jewish Museum in Prague and remains one of the most famous literary documents from the war.

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