Logan Square in Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Theresienstadt Tree
Branches of Our People
15,000 children were deported to a camp at Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic. Fewer than 200 survived. The Nazi's allowed these ill-fated children to be educated as part of a promotional ploy to hide the camp's genocidal purpose. The children wrote poetry and painted pictures, expressing their circumstances to a world they would not live to see.
In 1943, teacher Irma Lauscher planted a silver maple tree in the camp. It was nurtured by children until liberation, upon which the survivors placed a sign at its base, proclaiming, "As the branches of this tree, so the branches of our people!" A flood later destroyed this etz chaim (tree of life), but not before its saplings were spread widely across the globe, from Jerusalem to San Francisco, and now Philadelphia.
I'd like to go alone
I'd like to go alone
Maybe more of us,
A thousand strong,
Will reach this goal
Before too long.
Maybe more of us,
A thousand strong,
Will reach this goal
Before too long.
Alena Synkova
Deported to Theresienstadt in 1942, liberated in 1945
Erected 2018 by USC Shoah Foundation.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Law Enforcement
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Location. 39° 57.31′ N, 75° 10.028′ W. Marker is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia County. It is in Logan Square. Marker is on Benjamin Franklin Parkway west of Arch Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1635 Arch St, Philadelphia PA 19102, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Bearing Witness / Human Equality (a few steps from this marker); Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs (a few steps from this marker); Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs (a few steps from this marker); Six Pillars (a few steps from this marker); Train Tracks from Treblinka (a few steps from this marker); Protecting Life and Liberty / Totalitarianism (a few steps from this marker); In Loving Memory of Sam Wasserman (a few steps from this marker); Liberation / The Master Race (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Philadelphia.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 28, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 142 times since then and 7 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 28, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
