What are the Stories that Inspired this Project?
Irma Lauscher and Her Students

There were three things the Nazis could not take from us.
They could not take the blue sky, above us for our gazing.
They could not take the flood of sunlight, pouring into our courtyard nourishing us and our tree.
But most of all, they could not take Our Invisible God who remained, buried deeply in our
hearts.

This poem was written by a child in Terezin (the Theresienstadt Ghetto) who was involved in a courageous tree-planting act there. Irma Lauscher was a volunteer teacher in Terezin. Most of Irma's students in the ghetto came from assimilated families, and knew little about Jewish traditions. Irma decided to expose them for the first time to Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish New Year of the trees. On Tu B'Shevat, a prison guard was willing to smuggle a small maple sapling into the ghetto. Irma organized a ceremony with the children of the ghetto, and together they planted the tree, carefully sharing their water rations. The children nurtured their tree, wrote poetry about it, and were inspired by it. They called it the Etz Hayim-the Tree of Life.

Very few Jews survived that horrible war. Of the 15, 000 children in Terezin, about 150 survived. After the war, a small handful of these children returned to the former ghetto and found the tree still alive. They carefully transplanted the tree next to the crematorium outside the ghetto wall, and put up a headstone that began in Hebrew with the words of the prophet Isaiah: "As the days of a tree shall be the days of My people!"

The story of the tree in Theresienstadt is a celebration of the efforts of a committed teacher, whose goal was to shelter her students as best she could, and teach them about their own traditions even in the darkest time. It is also a celebration of the spirit of children-a spirit that cannot be vanquished.

If you are moved to action by the story of Irma Lauscher and her students, consider planting a tree together with your community (or family, or school, etc), to commemorate the tree in Terezin. You can create a ceremony to accompany the planting event. For ideas and texts that you might want to incorporate into your ceremony, click here.

Ela Weissberger is one of the few children from Terezin who survived the Holocaust. She was present at the tree-planting in Terezin in 1943, and also at the tree-planting in Cincinnati in 2000. In Terezin, Ela Weissberger performed in the Brundibar opera. At the 2000 tree-planting, Ela sang together with children from Cincinnati Opera's 2000 cast of Brundibar. At the commemorative tree-planting, Ela remarked: "Today is one of the happiest days of my life. I am very glad and surprised at how many children I see…A whole generation of children is gone but there is a new generation with us."

This commemorative tree-planting ceremony took place on February 11, 2000, on the grounds of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.

Ilan Ramon and Petr Ginz

Ilan Ramon was born in 1954 and lived in Be'er Sheva, Israel. He graduated at the top of his high school class, and became an ace pilot in the Israeli Air Force. During his service with the Israeli Air Force, Ilan also studied at Tel Aviv University and graduated as an electric and computer engineer. Ilan married Rona, and together they had four children. In 1988, Ilan was chosen to become the first Israeli astronaut. He trained for many years, and was finally given a berth on the space shuttle Columbia on Mission STS-107.

Before Ilan took off for space, he thought seriously about what he wanted to take with him. Ilan's mother was a Holocaust survivor, and through her Ilan understood the depths to which humanity could fall. By journeying into space, Ilan aspired to reach the heights of human potential. Ilan turned to Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial and museum, for something to take with him into space.

Yad Vashem gave Ilan a picture called Moon Landscape. This picture was drawn by 14-year-old Petr Ginz, in Terezin. It is his vision of our fragile Earth as seen from the surface of the Moon.

Petr Ginz was an intelligent and creative teenager who edited an underground magazine, Vedem, inside the ghetto. He led a group of boys to write, draw and express themselves, triumphantly brining together a hungry, frightened and persecuted community. With the exception of one, all the boys were sent to Auschwitz death camp. There Petr was murdered, never to develop his talents. Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem, reflects on the decision to give Moon Landscape to Ilan Ramon: "When we came upon Petr Ginz's Moon Landscape, we knew that we had found a match…Not only was Ginz murdered in Auschwitz (at the age of 16), but his sketch reflects his vision of how the earth would look from the moon. Ginz was also a talented author who, like Ramon, demonstrated an affinity for the sciences…Ramon's choice to take the drawing (and other artifacts) with him shows the significant role the Holocaust played in his identity as a Jew and as an Israeli."

Both Petr and Ilan had their lives cut too short. On Februrary 1, 2003, Ilan died in the tragic accident of the Space Shuttle Columbia. This was the date that would have been Petr's 75th birthday.

Ilan Ramon is an inspiration for the Tree-By-Tree project. From outer space he communicated with the world: "I call upon every Jew in the world to plant a tree in the land of Israel during the coming year. I would like to see at least 13 or 14 million new trees in Israel exactly one year from now, on the anniversary of the launching."
The Hebrew word Ilan means tree. Ilan's vision of a greener Israel and a greener world continue to inspire the Tree-By-Tree forest.

If you are moved by the story of Ilan Ramon, read Reach for the Stars: A Little Torah's Journey by Sylvia Rouss.
To order Reach for the Stars, please contact chhe@huc.edu
To make a donation to the Tree-By-Tree forest in memory of Ilan or Petr, click here.

What is the Tree-By-Tree Forest?
Learn more about the history and goals of the forest here.

How Can I Be Involved in the Continuing Tree-By-Tree Project?
Learn more about the current plans for the forest and how you can help here.

Can I Learn More about Children in the Holocaust?
Access relevant educational materials here.

Can I Purchase a Tree to be Part of the Tree-By-Tree Forest?
The Tree-By-Tree forest still needs your support. Make a donation through the JNF website here.