Throughout the several concentration camps that we visited during our time traveling through Europe, there were many different aspects of the Holocaust that we encountered. One of these aspects that I was not expecting to witness was the sheer amount of children's drawings. These depicted the life before, during, or after the Holocaust and expressed the viewpoint of what these children witnessed. When we visited the Big Fortress at Terezin, there was a museum that displayed a wide array of these drawings. Another location that displayed these drawings was at a synagogue that turned into a museum which commemorated Czech Jewish people that perished during the Holocaust.

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One of these photos that really left an impact on my journey was a drawing called "Tanec na Louce" ("Dance in the Meadow") drawn by Kuth Heinova who unfortunately passed away during the Holocaust. The drawing that he created represents life before he was sent to a concentration camp. The drawing (depicted below) shows his family dancing in a circle in a field with trees. Along with this there is a black scribble that goes across the his family dancing. After analyzing the photo displayed, the scribble seems to represent all that was lost during this horrible time in world history. This photo stood out to me because even at a young age, these children who went through this understood the magnitude of what was going on around them. They understood that everything was being taken away from them; homes, family, friends and life in general. They understood that what they loved was being taken from monsters yet they hoped that one day they would go back home and return home. They held this dream with them that their families would be one again and would go back to living the life that they did before their world was turned upside down. This can be seen in the photo called "Return" (picture below). The drawing depicts the child and their family returning home through a field.When looking at this drawing, it made me sad that these children were holding these hopes that were not going to be become a reality.

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Overall, the experience of visiting the various concentration camps was chilling yet seeing the impact that it had on children made me even more sad. With my aspirations of becoming an elementary school teacher in a few years along with my love for kids, this aspect pulled on my heart strings. They were so young and had a life ahead of them that was being ripped away just because of who they were.  

 

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