For Teacher Appreciation Week, mental_floss has an article about some teachers whose stories are well worth passing along. You probably have heard of most of them, but do you know about Friedl Dicker-Brandeis?
Friedl Dicker-Brandeis studied and taught art at the Weimar Bauhaus in Germany, working in textiles, printmaking, and typography, among other forms. When the Nazis rose to power, Dicker-Braindeis and her husband Pavel were deported to the Terezin "model" ghetto. The ghetto was used in propaganda films, portrayed as a model community with a rich cultural output; in reality it began as just another concentration camp.
But because so many artists, musicians, scientists, writers, and educators were imprisoned at Terezin, it actually did become a cultural haven for a time. Dicker-Brandeis had brought art supplies with her to the ghetto, and proceeded to teach art to over 600 children there. She taught them painting, collage, paper weaving, drawing—you name it.
THe classes became therapy for the imprisoned children. Some of the artworks they produced survive today, and you can see them in a video. Read the rest of Dicker-Brandeis’ story, and those of four other teachers, at mental_floss.