Reflections: Butterfly Art Program - Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

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About the Program
The Meaning of Butterflies
Behind the Name
How It Works
Program Requirements
Additional Offerings
Apply Here

About the Program

Reflections: Butterfly Art Program is an educational art and storytelling initiative from the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh (HCP) in which students decorate wooden butterflies in memory of children who were murdered in the Holocaust. In addition to a butterfly, each student receives a biography card that tells the stories of both a child victim and a Holocaust survivor who later rebuilt their life in Pittsburgh. This project aims to honor those who were lost, elevate the voices of those who survived, and foster intergenerational connection through creativity and remembrance.

The Holocaust Center provides accompanying educational resources, including an educator’s guide, a lesson plan, and a slide deck that can be used to implement the project. These resources present the Theresienstadt ghetto-camp as a case study of conditions during the Holocaust and to highlight the power of art.

This program is funded by The Lipsman Family Endowment Fund in memory of Charles and Hilda Lipsman.

The Meaning of Butterflies

Butterflies hold many different symbolic meanings across various cultures worldwide, including transformation, endurance, change, hope, and the delicacy of life.

Children and adults living in Theresienstadt and other ghettos turned to art to illustrate their lives, their feelings, and their dreams. Butterflies often appeared in their art, representing the hope for freedom they maintained, glimpses of beauty that existed in terrible places, and the people who did not survive.

Butterflies have become a symbol representing the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust. By participating in this program, students continue a chain of artistic expression that started with real people who suffered during the Holocaust and has been continued by many individuals—from local Holocaust survivors to students across the globe—in order to remember the lives of those who were killed.

Behind the Name

At the core of this program, students are asked to reflect on the individuals who were impacted by the Holocaust. As students learn about children who were killed in the Holocaust, they may see themselves reflected in those individuals and the features of childhood that remain unchanged. This helps connect history, which may often seem distant and abstract, to real people.

In addition, local Holocaust survivors’ experiences during the Holocaust mirror those of the individuals who did not survive. The full lives that survivors built after the war reflect the vibrant futures ripped away from those who were killed. We all must work to prevent such atrocities from taking place today by speaking out against prejudice, injustice, and intolerance. This program encourages students to translate remembrance into action by being upstanders—those who speak up when they see something is wrong and act to make the situation right.

How It Works

Program Requirements

Educators who do not meet all the requirements during their project may be ineligible to participate during future school years.

Additional Offerings

The Holocaust Center offers a range of additional programs that complement Reflections: Butterfly Art Program.

Generations Speakers Bureau

Our Generations Speakers are the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who share their families’ stories of surviving the Holocaust with students. Our staff can match an available speaker to present to your class before, during, or following your art session!

Field Trips

We work with educators to provide bespoke field trips to our exhibit, “Revolving Doors.” Field trips also include a Generations Speaker and other potential elements, such as a talk on understanding antisemitism or your butterfly art session.

The Waldman Arts and Writing Competition

Our annual arts and writing competition invites middle and high school students to create artwork and writing around a designated theme in Holocaust remembrance. Their pieces are then entered into a competition judged by first their schools, then the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.

Dismantling Antisemitism Project

At the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, we teach about the Holocaust with the goal of helping people comprehend its root causes. Understanding antisemitism is a critical part of this work. We offer trainings and presentaions for teachers and students. This offering builds capacity for participants to understand what antisemitism is, how it affects Jewish and non-Jewish people, and what we can do about it.

The Crocus Project

The Crocus Project is a project of Holocaust Education Ireland. The goal of this initiative is to have more than 1.5 million yellow crocuses in bloom, which are planted in memory of the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust and the thousands of other children who were victims of Nazi atrocities. The Crocus Project is implemented in 11 countries across Europe and the Holocaust Center has brought it to the United States! Educators can apply to receive free crocus bulbs from HCP for their students to plant in the fall (before the ground freezes) and participate in the project.

CHUTZ-POW! SUPERHEROES OF THE HOLOCAUST

CHUTZ-POW! SUPERHEROES OF THE HOLOCAUST is an acclaimed comic-book series created and published by The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.

When discussing CHUTZ-POW!, we use the term “upstander,” one who speaks up when they see something is wrong and acts to make the situation right. Every real-life hero featured in CHUTZ-POW! is an upstander, and these stories are designed to encourage readers of all ages to be up-standers too!

The CHUTZ-POW! Teachers’ Resource Guide is designed to build context and provide foundational information for teachers teaching about the Holocaust.

Local Survivors Archive

Established in 1980, the Holocaust Center was created as a living memorial to honor Holocaust survivors who came to Pittsburgh to rebuild their lives. In an act of resilience against antisemitism, local survivors and their children undertook a mission to create a comprehensive resource center that would help people learn about the Holocaust and counter intolerance and hate in all its forms. Now, we are proud to present the HCP Local Survivors Archive, a resource to help facilitate learning, commemoration, and connection with survivors who settled in our own communities after surviving unspeakable hardship.

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