Reflecting on the holiday celebration in the Terezín ghetto during 1943, on January 21, which coincided with Tu Bi Shvat. Despite the winter setting and the absence of fruits in the ghetto, the young residents embraced the holiday with joy. Facing a shortage of actual fruits, they ingeniously crafted representations by painting them on old letter paper and cutting them out. The atmosphere was filled with songs that resonated with a sense of home and the optimism for a better future. One courageous prisoner, stationed nearby, managed to bring in a fifteen-centimeter seedling with roots, an act strictly forbidden. To avoid attracting attention from officers, representatives from different homes gathered in the courtyard of a closed block of houses. There, they planted the forbidden seedling in a clandestine ceremony, reciting psalms and singing, symbolizing the enduring spirit of hope amidst challenging circumstances. Seated on the wall, someone contemplated the Bible verse “ki jemej ec – jemej ami,” translating to “as the days of the trees are the days of my people.” The holiday celebration brought a collective sense of upliftment to children, youth, and their caregivers. Over time, the tree’s seedling grew in the dense earth, becoming a symbol of resilience. Even as transports came and went, there remained someone in Terezín who cherished the tree. Through the passing years of 1943 and 1944, the youth, undeterred, nurtured the tree, watering it during scorching summer days and shielding it from winter frost. On Tu Bi Shvat in 1945, only a small group of children gathered around the now-matured tree. In 1948, the tree found a new home in the Jewish cemetery in Terezín, where it continues to thrive—a living testament to the enduring spirit of remembrance. (Memory A5243 PT)
Photograph: Terezín Memorial
