The Last Butterfly

June M. Blurton is a retired speech/language pathologist.

The setting of this novel is a concentration camp that, in fact, existed
in the early 1940s. World War II was in full swing and the Germans had
set up the camp at Terezin, near Prague. It was a “model” transit
camp for Jews from Czechoslovakia and most countries of occupied Europe;
from it they were shipped to other camps, generally for extermination.

The novel’s central event is a visit by a group from the Red Cross,
and the preparations of the officers in charge of the camp to provide a
charming faзade along the inspection route. Antonin Karas, a depressed
has-been comedian from Prague, is brought in to provide entertainment
during the visit. His participation in life slowly returns as he becomes
more and more involved with the other residents, particularly a group of
children and a woman inmate.

Jacot is a professional writer of stage plays, films, novels, and TV
dramas. His writing flows, with not a superfluous word, drawing the
reader into the pain, hunger, hopelessness, and, above all, fear of his
characters.