There seems to be some impulse in the human psyche that strives to memorialize. Everything from the naming of museums and theaters after financial benefactors and the erection of grave markers both colossal and modest to dedicating ships and creating holidays (think Memorial Day and the feast day of St, Patrick) that spotlights this inclination. On another level, playwright Celeste Raspanti underscores the drive and power of memory in her stirring drama I Never Saw Another Butterly and The Terezin Promise . Set in the concentration camp of Terezin in Czechoslovakia as World War Two is going badly for the Nazis, we meet the young Raja Englanderova. Just off the train and entering the bleak and dismal camp under the gateway arch emblazoned with the ironically diabolical words Arbeit Macht Frei, she enters frightened and alone. She soon finds some emotional support from Irene Synkova (Holland Adele Taylor), who has been secretly encouraging a young group of Jewish girls (pl...
The personal blog of western Pennsylvania journalist Dave Zuchowski.