František "Franta" Bass (September, 4 1930 – 28 October 1944) was a Jewish Czech poet and child victim of the Holocaust.

Franta Bass
BornSeptember 4, 1930
Died28 October 1944(1944-10-28) (aged 14)

Bass wrote poems while in the Theresienstadt Ghetto. His work was published in the ghetto's secret magazine, Vedem. It was later featured in the book, I Never Saw Another Butterfly (1994), a compilation of art and poetry by children of Theresienstadt.

Life

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Bass was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He was Jewish.[1]

Bass was forced into the Theresienstadt Ghetto on 2 December 1941. While there, he wrote poems that referenced his experiences. His poems were published in the Vedem, a secret magazine that was created by teenage boys in the ghetto.[2]

Bass was sent to Auschwitz on 10 October 1944. He was murdered there on 28 October 1944.[3][4]

His poems were featured in I Never Saw Another Butterfly, a compilation of art and poetry by children of Theresienstadt.[1]

 

Poems

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"The Garden"

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A little garden,

Fragrant and full of roses,

The path is narrow

And a little boy walks along it.

A little boy, a sweet boy,

Like that growing blossom.

When the blossom comes to bloom,

The little boy will be no more.

"I Am A Jew"

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I am a Jew and will be a Jew forever.

Even if I should die from hunger,

never will I submit.

I will always fight for my people,

on my honor.

I will never be ashamed of them,

I give my word.

I am proud of my people,

how dignified they are.

Even though I am suppressed,

I will always come back to life.

"Home"

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I look, I look

into the wide world,

into the wide, distant world.

I look to the southeast,

I look, I look toward my home.

I look toward my home,

the city where I was born.

City, my city,

I will gladly return to you.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Volavkovà, Hana; United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, eds. (1993). I never saw another butterfly: children's drawings and poems from Terezin concentration camp 1942 - 1944 (Expanded 2. ed.). New York: Schocken Books. ISBN 978-0-8052-1015-6.
  2. ^ "Vedem | Homepage". www.vedem-terezin.cz. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  3. ^ "Holocaust Education Companion Guide - Poem: I Am a Jew by Franta Bass" (PDF). Holocaust Memorial Center.
  4. ^ Rosenberg, Rabbi James (2016-05-27). "My hope that we never forget 'The little boy'". Jewish Rhode Island. Retrieved 2023-12-06.