Paper Butterflies for Yom HaShoah

Butterflies have become a poignant symbol of the Holocaust, particularly of the 1.5 million children who perished. One reason the insects have assumed such a role in Yom HaShoah remembrances is Pavel Friedmann’s poem “The Butterfly,” which he wrote in 1942 at Terezin concentration camp, a couple of years before he died at Auschwitz. The butterfly represents freedom, and the young Friedmann lamented in the final words of the poem:

That butterfly was the last one.

Butterflies don’t live in here,

In the ghetto.

In the spirit of the Butterfly Project of the Holocaust Museum Houston, in which kids from all over the world handmade butterflies to memorialize the children who died, here’s a project to make your own butterflies.

What you’ll need:
Colored paper
Scissors
String or yarn

1. Cut two triangles out of colored paper, with one triangle a little shorter than the other. The triangles should be isosceles, meaning two of the sides are equal in length. Try to make the shapes narrower, which will allow for more folds and a fuller butterfly.

2. Accordion fold both triangles, folding the paper at half-inch intervals. They don’t have to be exact, so just eyeball them.

3. Bend the accordion-folded triangles in half, toward the longer ends of the triangle. Now they look like wings.

4. Line up the two wing pieces, positioning the bends in the center. Place the larger piece on top and the smaller one below it. Tie a piece of string or yarn around the middle to secure the two pieces together. Cut off excess string, and you’re left with the butterfly’s antenna. Spread the folds out to expand the butterfly wings.

Jonathan Fong is the author of “Flowers That Wow” and “Parties That Wow,” and host of “Style With a Smile” on YouTube. You can see more of his do-it-yourself projects at jonathanfongstyle.com.