H eadlines
Concentration Camp Sapling Planted at Museum
NATIONAL SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
A SILVER MAPLE TREE
with a genesis from Czech
ghetto and concentration camp
Theresienstadt found a new
home at New York’s Museum
of Jewish Heritage - A Living
Memorial to the Holocaust,
due in part to the Philadelphia
Jewish community.

Before arriving at the
Museum of Jewish Heritage,
the tree took root outside of
Philadelphia, tended along
with nine other Theresienstadt
saplings by former Jewish
Federation of
Greater Philadelphia President Bud
Newman on what was formerly
his farm in New Hope.

“I look at these trees as
being symbolic of more people
recognizing what Jews have
gone through, and more people
recognizing that Jews are
survivors, and their strengths
and their attitude towards
continuing through survival is
miraculous,” Newman said.

The 15-foot tall sapling’s
dedication at the Museum of
Jewish Heritage took place on
Dec. 2, with more than 150
guests in attendance virtually
Former Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia President Bud Newman
with saplings descended from a tree planted in Theresienstadt in 1943
Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
President and CEO Jack Kliger speaks at the Children’s Tree dedication.

and in person. Ambassador
and U.S. Representative to
the United Nations Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, Czech
Consul General Arnošt Kareš
and museum leadership spoke
at the event; Theresienstadt
survivors Fred Terna and Rene
Slotkin watered the newly-
planted tree.

The tree, dubbed the
“Children’s Tree,” which faces
directly across PS/IS 276 —
Battery Park City School — will
be cared for by the students
there, much like it was in
1943 when the children of
Theresienstadt used their water
rations to feed the tree.

their humanity, even in condi-
tions of enormous oppression.”
Though the
original Theresienstadt tree was
destroyed along with the camp
in a flood after the camp was
liberated in 1945, cuttings
from it were distributed across
the United States and Israel.

Newman received the
saplings from
former Philadelphia
Holocaust Remembrance Foundation
President Steve Kessler. Kessler
told Newman that Longwood
Gardens in Kennett Square was
housing a sapling descended
from a Theresienstadt tree that
belonged to the memorial,
which was then undergoing
construction. That made it
impossible for them to keep it,
as it had grown too large.

Nine other smaller saplings,
originally cuttings from the
larger one, accompanied it.

According to Berenbaum, these
trees were originally brought
to the Philadelphia Holocaust
Remembrance Foundation by
Philadelphia landscape artist
Stuart Appel.

Newman, who had both a
proclivity for farming trees and
a passion for Holocaust remem-
brance, happily accepted the
saplings. Newman
remembered visiting Auschwitz with his
wife many years ago, where he
saw old oak trees still standing
proudly at the camp, with
Courtesy of Bud Newman
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Battery Park City School
students attended the event
as well, having the opportu-
nity to meet the Theresienstadt
survivors. Museum of Jewish Heritage
President and CEO Jack Kliger,
who is the son of two survi-
vors, said the children were
“honored” to have attended.

“I said to a 10-year-old, ‘Well,
now you’ve met a witness; now
you become a witness,’” Kliger
said. “That’s both an honor and
a responsibility.”
Jewish Theresienstadt
teacher Irma Lauscher planted
the original silver maple in
1943 on Tu B’Shevat, after she
bribed a guard to smuggle in
the tree.

Theresienstadt was home
to thousands of prisoners
during the Holocaust, many
of whom were educators and
scholars, who gave the children
there an informal education.

Fifteen thousand children were
imprisoned in Theresienstadt,
and fewer than 200 survived.

Historian and Museum of
Jewish Heritage Consulting
Curator Michael Berenbaum
called the tree a symbol of
“spiritual resistance,” a way
for those imprisoned to find
meaning in times of suffering.

“We make a hero of those
who led us in armed resis-
tance,” Berenbaum said. “We
should also make a hero of
those who refuse to surrender
JEWISH EXPONENT
Photo by John Halpern
acorns scattered across the
ground. “I turned to the guide, who
was Polish, and said to her,
‘Boy oh boy, if these trees could
talk, what a tale they would
tell,’” Newman said. “And then
she turned to me and said,
‘Well, it’s funny you say that
because we refer to them as the
silent witnesses.’”
The sapling was planted
and dedicated to the Museum
of Jewish Heritage in early
December, the ideal time
to plant a tree to ensure its
survival. Newman contacted the
Dallas Holocaust and Human
Rights Museum to be home to
a sapling. He has reached out
to other Holocaust museums
around the country, with the
help of Berenbaum and Kliger,
about future tree dedications,
which they hope will continue
to not only be a symbol of spiri-
tual resilience and renewal but
also an opportunity to engage
with greater audiences about
the impacts of the Holocaust,
past and present.

“The fight against hate and
antisemitism has not gone
away,” Kliger said. “The lessons
of history can only be valuable
if you apply them and learn
from them and teach from
them.” l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM