On the grounds of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, a maple tree stands as a towering testament to the power of hope under the most dire circumstances.
The tree is a descendant of a silver maple that grew in Czechoslovakia's Terezin concentration camp. It was smuggled as a small cutting inside the boot of a Czech guard and nurtured to life by the children imprisoned there.
A new children's book, "The Children's Tree of Terezin" (Legacy Publishing), tells the story of how the tree took root. Its author, museum docent Dede Harris, will read the story during a family program at the museum.
"There are so many lessons we can learn from this story," said Harris, whose husband, Sam, is a Holocaust survivor. "Teamwork and cooperation in the way the children lined up and gave the tree a little of their rationed water; giving generously no matter what your circumstances are; knowing you can always make a positive difference in this world. Hope, certainly."
The book, beautifully illustrated by Sara Akerlund, is a window into the beauty and bravery that managed to play out amid the horrors of the Holocaust.
A group of adult prisoners at Terezin established a council of educators who vowed to support creativity and learning inside the camp. They led their fellow prisoners to perform operas, create music, write and paint.
Irma Lauscher was a member of that council.
"Irma's husband, Jiri, and their daughter, Michaela, were also prisoners in Terezin," the book reads. "They too were starving and afraid. Despite Irma's fears for herself and her family, she managed to think of others, especially the children in the camp. She was very concerned over the children's well-being."
The Lauschers survived Terezin, and Harris interviewed Michaela for the book.
Irma Lauscher taught the children at Terezin about the Jewish holidays and created ways for them to celebrate. She talked a guard into smuggling in a tiny tree so they could plant it for Tu B'Shevat, a holiday that is partly a celebration of trees.
As the tree grew, it became a symbol of hope. One child, Harris writes, penned a poem about it.
"Here were three things the Nazis could not take from us.
They could not take the blue sky above us, for our gazing.
They could not take the flood of sunlight pouring into our courtyard, nourishing our tree and us.
But most of all, they could not take Our Invisible God who remained deep in our hearts."
After World War II, seeds and cuttings from the tree were sent around the world.
"The memory of Irma Lauscher and these brave children will live on for all who see the trees and read their story," writes Harris.
"People were terrified, and yet this beautiful little story took place," Harris told me. "It reminds us of all the good in the world."
