A Few Leaves

First shown to the public in the months following the Liberation of Prague, the letters, art work and poetry of the children of Terezín and Osvtim were then fresh upon the page. Many survived to within a few months of the victory. One could almost touch their hands. The unimaginable tragedy of the slaughter of millions is viewed more intimately when a survivor sees in an old album the faces of family members who were killed and recognizes their goodness and humanity. In the same way, the images and verses of children, expressive of their private thoughts, sentiments and observations offer the opportunity to acknowledge the enormity of their loss from a closer, more personal perspective. The author has been for many years a clinical and research physician and teacher at the Illinois West Side Medical Center. Born in England, trained at a London teaching hospital, and possessing advanced medical qualifications there and in the USA, he has degrees from Oxford University in Physiology and European languages and literature; and from the University of London in sociology. He has maintained close contact with Prague friends from student days, contacts which could be resumed after the Velvet Revolution of November 1989.