He Would Have Been in My Class

Take a look at this class.  See the shiny eyes of these students, so long ago, back in Prague.  This was a class for gifted students in a country that soon would be taken over by the Nazi regime.  In this class, students were encouraged to be creative and to explore.  I could have been a student in that class. I could have been that teacher.

And in that class, there was a boy named Petr Ginz.  Here he is with his father and sister.

And here he is in the snow with his mother.

His parents were dreamers, activists in the Esperanto language movement. They believed that a common language could lead to world peace.  He became fluent in this language, and as a child even created a Czech-Esperanto dictionary.

Perhaps I needn't have said "as a child."

Petr didn't get to live past sixteen.

If he had lived, I bet my mother would have met him in science fiction conferences. Maybe she would have been teaching his works of literature.  Here are two illustrations from one of the five novels he wrote. (Yes, five novels. Real novels. Written before he was deported, A Visit from Prehistory tells the story of a giant robot named Ka-du who threatens to take over the Belgian Congo because of an evil dictator.  Clearly, this is an allegory of Hitler's evil-doing.  The young boy ended his tale with this warning:  "Is it not possible that a new monster may appear on the surface of this earth, worse than this one, a monster that. . .will torture mankind in a terrible manner." 

  Petr was sent to Theresienstadt because of his mixed Jewish heritage.  Here, he ended up in the Boy's Home 101.  Here, the group of boys he lived with really exemplified the best of the human spirit.  They created their own nation, "Skid", similar to my old students' "Chargo" but much more optimistic.   Skid even had an anthem:

Every man is our brother

Christian or Jewish kid

United we march under the banner

Of the Republic of Kid

   The boys kept a literary magazine called Vedem .  This means "We Lead" .  Take a look at one of the cover for one of its issues.  These boys had so little, yet they showed that they were armed with the power of their words.  See how the cannon is made out of a newspaper?   Then, look at the cannonballs.  They are each labeled in Czech with a different value:  Mirth, Satire, Laughter.

  Of the concentration camps, Theresienstadt gave the children the most freedom, in part because the Nazis were cautious in anticipation of visits from the King of Denmark and from the Red Cross. But that doesn't mean life was easy.  And the deportations kept coming.  Petr was taken to Auschwitz and killed at the young age of 16. This is the last known photo with him in it. He is standing on the left, next to a cousin.

 Petr knew, though, that his story didn't end there.  At one point, he wrote of the arts:

“The seed of a creative idea does not die in mud and scum. Even there it will germinate and spread its blossom like a star shining in darkness.”

Two works of his art speak to me above all. The first one is more famous. You see, when Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, joined the Columbia Space Shuttle crew, he brought items of personal significance. One of these items, to honor those who suffered in the Holocaust, was this picture by Petr. Remember this illustration was drawn by a teenager long before we sent a man into space. He had a vision and shared it with us. Devastatingly, Ramon was one of the astronauts whose life was suddenly truncated with the Columbia explosion in 2003. Life is so precious.

   The other piece of artwork that leaves me with a charge is the one on the left.  Petr drew this from memory when he was exiled from his home in Prague.  Look at the details, and the gentle colors.  He also wrote a poem entitled "Memories of Prague." 

Like a beast, I am imprisoned in a cage.

Prague, your fairytale in stone, how well I remember. 

Look in this young boy's eyes. See how he leans into his sister and how she beams.  His sister survived and still lives today.  He was not given that opportunity.  There are children in the world today who are also creative and kind, who also have visions, and who miss their home.  Petr, I wish the world could have done more for you.  How can we help the people who need us today?