Lost Jewish Children’s Poems Set to Music in ‘I Never Saw Another Butterfly’

From 1941 to 1945, 15,000 children were imprisoned in the Terezin concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. Fewer than 150 survived. But a rescued cache of poems and drawings, discovered after the camp’s liberation, was displayed at the Jewish Museum in Prague and some were published in 1959 in the book “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.”

Sixty-one years later, it’s the title of a jazz album based on several poems from composer and vocalist Dana Sandler, commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation.

Sandler recalls reading the book at 14 after her mother brought a copy of it back from a visit to Terezin. “It left a big impact on me,” she told the Journal. Now, as an adult and a mother who is troubled by the rise in anti-Semitism and the plight of detainees and their children at the southern border of the United States, Sandler believes the modern-day parallels make its messages more relevant than ever.

“This was meant to preserve the memory of those whose voices were silenced too soon. But with events that have been happening in recent times it’s important to keep the conversation going,” she said. “Poems and drawings from the detention centers have been eerily similar. If we don’t tell these stories, we’ll see more atrocities like this.”

Before crafting her compositions, Sandler did research about Terezin, the young poets and Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, the art teacher who taught them there and who perished in Auschwitz (the album is dedicated to her). It’s written for a chamber jazz ensemble in a song-cycle in four sections, blending instrumental and vocal elements that convey the heartbreak, sadness and defiance of the writers.

“Obviously, it’s a very dark subject. We know the fates of the children. But to capture their innocence was really important to me,” she said. “I didn’t want it to be disturbing. I wanted it to be light and beautiful, something people could connect to and something my children could relate to and sing.” Toward that end, she didn’t write on dreary days or when her “mindset wasn’t in the right place.”

“Each section has its own character, but I tie them together by sneaking earlier parts into later compositions, weaving them throughout so it becomes this cohesive piece,” Sandler said. The last track is up-tempo and uplifting, reflecting hope, peace and the beauty of nature. Her husband, Austin McMahon, is the ensemble’s drummer, and their 10-year-old daughter, Rory, contributes vocals to two tracks.

Currently dealing with the challenges of home-schooling Rory and her brother Tyler during the COVID-19 pandemic, “We’ve figured out ways to make the best of it, but we’re exhausted,” Sandler said. “But at the same time, I’ve seen goodness and creativity and the community coming together.” Like many Jews, she held her Passover seder virtually. Her  husband played the piano and the kids sang the Four Questions.

“In a time when Holocaust survivors able to share their stories are dwindling in number, I truly hope that this music serves as a way to keep their stories alive for generations to come.” — Dana Sandler

Of Ashkenazi, mostly Lithuanian heritage, Sandler was raised in a Reform Jewish home in Miami. The highlight of her bat mitzvah was singing a duet with the cantor who later would officiate at her wedding and her daughter’s baby naming. After her confirmation, she lost touch with Judaism until she met McMahon in college, became engaged and realized how important being Jewish was to her. McMahon didn’t convert, “But we’re raising our children Jewish and he’s been a very active part of our Jewish life.” Since 2003, they have lived in the Boston area, where Sandler moved to study for her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC).

Sandler’s musical aptitude was evident by the time she was 4, when she’d watch “My Little Pony” on TV and toddle over to the piano to play its theme by ear. With her parents’ encouragement and support, she took piano and voice lessons, attended music camps and appeared in musicals there and at school. After getting foundation in classical music, she delved into other styles, playing in a klezmer band with other NEC students. Then, after her graduation, her focus pivoted: She decided to become a physician’s assistant.

“Someone very close to me got sick and I became one of her caretakers. I had always enjoyed the sciences in school and I took some classes and enjoyed it. I felt it was worth exploring,” she said. She worked in the rheumatology department at Boston Children’s Hospital until January 2019, when she began working on the album.

“I listen to it and I see my entire training — classical, musical theater, Judaica, klezmer. It’s all in there. It encompasses everything that I am at this stage of my life,” Sandler said, noting that music, “at this point, is where life is leading me, and I’m devoting myself to it fully and wholeheartedly.”

Her plans for live performances and appearances now derailed because of the coronavirus, she is investigating other means to spread the word, including livestreams, lectures and other presentations. In a virtual engagement, she spoke to middle school students about the history behind the album and played selections for them, with the help of her daughter.

She’s gratified that she was able to perform at a Yom HaShoah concert at a synagogue in her community. “In a time when Holocaust survivors able to share their stories are dwindling in number,” she said, “I truly hope that this music serves as a way to keep their stories alive for generations to come.”

“I Never Saw Another Butterfly” is available for free streaming on YouTube, Apple Music and download purchase at iTunes and Bandcamp, coming soon to Spotify.