Friedl Dicker-Brandeis lived in Prague, Czechoslovakia, during Hitler’s rise to power. She was a painter, designer, teacher, and art therapist who taught and cared for children. During 1938, Friedl was offered a visa to Palestine, but she chose to stay with her husband and friends. She and her husband were sent to Terezin Concentration Camp in 1942. Instead of packing items to make her own existence more bearable, Friedl packed art supplies: paint, brushes, paper, dyed sheets, and art books. Although the conditions were horrendous, Friedl enabled many children in Terezin to experience the arts. Some of their artwork was hidden and saved; examples are reproduced in full color in this slim volume. Through interviews with survivors, diary material, and other data, readers can glimpse the work of one of the many courageous adults whose efforts sustained other spirits in the concentration campa. This is a valuable source for anyone studying Terezin, or who sees or experiences the music based on another published collection, I Never Saw Another Butterfly . . . Children’s Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp , edited by Hana Volavkova (English language expanded second edition: Schocken, 1993). Valuable bibliographies of books, videocassettes, unpublished diaries, papers & lectures, sound recordings, and web sites are located at the end, as is an index. (Ages 10-15)

In December 1942 Freidl Dicker-Brandeis packed her suitcase for the last time. What did she fill it with? Art supplies. Brushes, paints, and paper were her luggage when she was forced by Nazi soldiers to move to the Terezin concentration camp. An artist and art instructor, Freidl used her limited supplies to bring a world of beauty and fantasy to children in the camp--most of whom would die tragically at Auschwitz. This story reveals how flashes of kindness can bring joy and relief--like fireflies in the dark.

The story is enhanced with photographs and reproductions of the amazing artwork completed by Freidl Dicker-Brandeis, her students, and her colleagues during their time at Terezin.