BVB players trained on the grounds of the San Diego Jewish Academy for much of the past week as part of the club’s stay in California.
BVB players trained on the grounds of the San Diego Jewish Academy for much of the past week as part of the club’s stay in California. On Friday, Edin Terzic, Mats Hummels, Julian Brandt, Niklas Süle and Marco Reus returned there after training to take part in a project in memory of children killed in the Holocaust.
Just a few feet from the soccer field, numerous ceramic butterflies hang from the school buildings. San Diego Jewish Academy’s “Butterfly Project” is meant to be a “a call to action through education, the arts and memorial making.” By painting ceramic butterflies to display as symbols of resilience and hope, participants commemorate the 1.5 million children killed during the Holocaust.
On Friday, the BVB players also painted butterflies and added them to the project. They joined children from the Academy, chatted with them and fulfilled autograph requests before the entire group took up brushes and paint. Each participant received the biography of a child who perished in the Holocaust, for whom he or she painted the butterfly. The participants from Dortmund painted for children who came from the Westphalian homeland. Cheryl Rattner Price, founder of the Butterfly Project, had prepared the biographies.
Since 2006, 350,000 ceramic butterflies have been painted and are hanging all over the world. „When the players take their butterflies, they carry the message. It is a message for peace. They help us amplify our message,“ said Rattner Price. Carsten Cramer, BVB’s CMO added, „BVB supports the work of remembrance so that what happened is never forgotten. We will continue to fight against antisemitism. The butterflies are given a special place at the training ground in Dortmund as a symbol of support.“
Leopoldo Kahn from San Diego, grandson of the former mayor of Dortmund Paul Hirsch (1925 to 1932), was also present. Kahn told of his Jewish grandfather and of the escape of his mother and aunt. Cory Weiss of the World Jewish Congress thanked BVB for its commitment. The club has cooperated with the World Jewish Congress on a range of programs including the organization’s #WeRememeber Campaign and training programs to address antisemitism.
More information about the project: https://thebutterflyprojectnow.org/
