There are many stories from Terezin about the remarkable educators and youth leaders who dedicated themselves to helping children in the camp. One of these individuals was a woman named Irma Lauscher (Lauscherova in Czech), a teacher who secured a
most precious gift for the children of Terezin.

Irma Lauscher’s Life Before Terezin

Irma was born in the Czech town of Heřmanův Městec in 1904, and moved to Prague with her family as a young teenager. After completing secondary school she attended Charles University in Prague, where she studied education, psychology, German and
French, ultimately graduating with a teaching degree. Irma then began working as a teacher and also joined a local Jewish youth movement called Techelet Lavan.

In 1932, Irma married Jiří Lauscher, who was also a member of Techelet Lavan. Both Irma and Jiří were staunch Zionists who longed to emigrate to the territory then known as Mandatory Palestine. However, not wanting to leave Irma’s widowed mother behind, they delayed their plans and remained in Prague. Their daughter Míchaela was born in 1936, and soon after Irma returned to teaching at an organization called the Jewish Religious Community (JRC). 

She also taught at a Jewish school in Prague until the Nazis closed the school in 1942. Even after the Nazis forbade Jewish children to go to school, Irma continued to teach small groups of children in secret, usually in the apartments of local Jewish families. Some of Irma’s former students remembered her as a strict teacher with high standards, though also very fair, committed, and quick to assist her students. These qualities made her a highly respected teacher and would later prove invaluable to the children she taught at Terezin. 

A Teacher in Terezin

Irma, Jiří, and Míchaela arrived in Terezin in December 1942, where Irma resumed her work as a teacher. In early 1943, Irma and some other prisoners formed a council of educators, who were determined to provide an education for children in Terezin. Irma began holding secret classes in which she taught children about Jewish history and traditions. One of these traditions was the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, also known as the “New Year of the Trees”. In modern times, many Jewish communities commemorate the holiday by planting trees.

Determined to uphold this tradition, even in Terezin, Irma took matters into her own hands. She took an immense risk and bribed one of the camp’s Czech guards to smuggle a small sapling into Terezin. The guard managed to secure a sapling from a silver maple tree, tucked it in his boot, and safely delivered it to Irma.

Soon after, when no Nazi soliders were around, Irma and her young students gathered in front of a large building in the center of town and planted the tiny sapling. Once planted, the children watered the tree with their own rations. At the end of the ceremony, a rabbi said a special blessing over the children and the tree, praying that they would one day be free to plant trees in Czechoslovakia, the land of Israel, and all over the world. 

As the weeks passed, the children continued to nurture the tree using their own precious water rations. Against all odds, the fragile young tree survived the war, but tragically most of the children who planted and cared for the tree were deported and died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. 

Life After Liberation

By a miracle, Irma, Jiří, and Míchaela were all spared from the transports and remained in Terezin until the camp was liberated in May 1945. After liberation, they returned to Prague and began to rebuild their lives. Irma and her daughter both spent time in a sanatorium, and Irma decided not to return to school due to ongoing health problems. Instead, she found work as a private teacher, while Jiří obtained a job at the Israeli Embassy in Prague.

Life in post-war Czechoslovakia became increasingly difficult for Irma and her family after the Communist takeover in 1948. The Communist government continued to spread
anti-Semitic propaganda, which was one of the main reasons why Irma, Jiří, and
Míchaela attempted to flee the country several times. On their final attempt in 1953, the entire family was arrested and sent to prison. 

After their release, Irma and her husband returned to their previous jobs, and Irma also wrote articles for the Gazette of Jewish Religious Communities. In the 1960s, they began working with a German volunteer organization called AktionSühnezeichen (Action Reconciliation for Peace) to educate young people about the Holocaust and the Terezin ghetto. As part of their work, they returned to Terezin many times over the years in spite of the trauma their whole family endured there.

Irma and the Terezin Children’s Tree

During these trips to Terezin, Irma would return to visit her tree, which thrived and over the years grew into a towering silver maple tree, nearly 60 feet in height. A teacher to the very end, Irma dedicated the rest of her life to educating young people about Terezin, until she passed away in June 1985 at the age of 81. 

As for the Children’s Tree, it survived until 2003, when it was destroyed in a flood. But the tree lives on, for over the years, the tree produced many saplings which were planted in Israel and in the United States. Young silver maples took root in Jerusalem, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, and most recently, outside the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. Several Terezin survivors and descendents of survivors attended the ceremony in New York City, including Holocaust survivor Fred Terna, who helped to water the tree as a child in Terezin.

Although the original Children’s Tree is no longer standing, its descendants grow tall in many different cities, where they stand as living memorials to the children of Terezin.