Stamped

One day a workman
Threw a piece into a wagon
a stampede
dozens of starving men
fought to death
for a few crumbs
Germans look in on the spectacle
bread has fallen
real battled men
on top of each other
stomping each other tearing each other
beasts of prey
animal hatred in their eyes
vitality seized
then sharpening teeth and nails
a crowd
workmen curious
spectators on the side of the train
never seen such a cargo
bread being dropped
audience stared
skeletons of men fighting to the death
for a mouthful piece
I would never have the strength to fight
With a dozen savage men
not far away
an old man trying to disengage
from the struggle held one hand to his heart
thought he had received a blow to the chest
a bit of bread under his shirt
remarkable speed
excitement was immediately extinguished
a shadow just loomed near him
threw itself upon him
fell to the ground
stunned with blows
an old man cried Meir you recognize me I’m your father
you’re killing your father
got some bread for you
he collapsed
fist clenched around some bread
tried carry to his mouth
old man whispered
let out a rattle and died
son devoured it
not able to get very far
men hurled themselves upon him
side by side
father and son
-G.G.

To Be Afraid


To be taken away
From your home

To have everything
Stripped from you

To be separated from family
To be mistreated

To live in fear
Every day

Thinking you just might die

To think someone could
be so violent

And treat people like animals
To think
Every day is my
Last day
-J.J.E.

Arrival at Auschwitz

Stripping one of their pride
Babies thrown into the air
like Frisbees
Even though they're human
Stripping one of their pride
their family
possessions
clothes
home
hair
name
cherished things
was it all an illusion?
-E.E.

Deathly Train Ride

The train stopped
Dead were thrown to the wayside
The living rejoiced
From all directions came cries
Here’s one!
Take him!
Twenty naked dead bodies deprived of a burial
Days ran into nights
No one spoke a word of this evil
This evil train ride left a darkness
on their souls forever
-M.R.

The Unforgotten Moment

In that moment
Everything changed
It was a time
Where death started
There were people that were policemen
That came and took Jews away from their homes
There was a new law
Every Jew must wear a yellow star
We would have no more rights
No one was allowed to go into the restaurants
Or to travel on the railway
We no longer felt human
We felt like animals
Being kept in a cage
-R.P.

The Lost Innocence


The SS released him, and then I knew

Two adults and a child lay dying in a noose

Where is God I asked, where is he?

Total silence, as I looked up to his face of innocence I thought

Under our eyes a child lost his life

while I lost my innocence and humanity

Slow agony in pain,

I saw the struggle between life and death

I couldn’t stop it, and he was still alive,

his tongue hung swollen, blue and tinged

Voices were raging, I was weeping

As I heard the same man asking where is God now?

Execution was done,

the sun was setting and that night

the soup

tasted of corpses

-C.E.

Powerless

Horrible awakening
On the train
Middle of the night

The train traveling
The terror beginning

Seeing the fire
Through the eyes of Madame Schachter
Feeling powerless and scared

A piercing cry
Split the silence
An endless night

Jews were crying

Our nerves
At a breaking point
We can’t breathe
Normally

It is a furnace
A fire

Screaming Jews
Breathless at times

Separation
From parents
And children

People wanted to go home
-L.P.

Long live liberty


I can feel
my heart beating within my throat.
Total silences throughout the camp
on the horizon
I could see the sun was setting
and it felt like it was only me and me alone.
I walk and walk –and then I was on the gallows
a man put a rope around my neck
two men with an apron
agreeing with the executioner
who said he did not want to be the one to rid me of my soul
please God hear my cries
please let me live
bare your head someone said
thoughts swirling
tempest of fear and regret
One minute left to go
cover your head
I felt a sudden
Jerk
I could feel my soul
lifted from my body
and I was gone.
-ktty

Death of One Little Boy

One day after work
There were three
Yes I said
Three gallows
And there were three victims
One was a little Boy
They were sending him to death
To hang someone that small
He’s everybody’s child
Where was God
God was there
He was the little Boy
And then and there God
DIED
-R.A.

Drifting Away

There were eight short simple words.
Men to the left.
Women to the right.
They said it without emotion.
And quietly
I parted from my mother
And felt pressure as I was holding my mother's hand.
She grasped my hand and started to pull away.
As I glimpsed at my mother and sisters
they were drifting away
I saw them disappear.
I went on walking with my father.
He grabbed my hand.
I thought not to lose him, not to be left alone.
At all costs we must stick together.
-R.S.