Franta Bass

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

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
Bass was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He was Jewish.

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.

Bass was sent to Auschwitz on 10 October 1944. He was murdered there on 28 October 1944.

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



"The Garden"
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"
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"
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.