POETS OF THE WORLD BEARING WITNESS TO THE HOLOCAUST EDITED BY MARGUERITE M. STRIAR \ NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRESS EVANSTON, ILLINOIS Acknowledgments xvii Introduction xix IN DEFENSE OF POETRY After Poetry, Jane Schapiro 5 a Jew's love for language, Chaia L. Heller 6 The Book of Lamentations, Leo Haber 9 Song Is a Monument, Yala Korwin 11 Letter to a Poet, Herman Taube 13 Dedication, Czestaw Mitosz 15 THE BEGINNING: PREMONITIONS AND PROPHESIES Where We Are, Peter Desy 19 A Transport of Children, Cornel Lengyel 21 Oma's Opera Fan, Rochelle Natt 23 Born in Safety, 1941: a broken villanelle, Davi Walders 25 The Last Letter, Charles F. Streckfus \ 26 The Photograph, Mary Engel 27 Hearing Him Talk, Barbara Goldberg 28 The Document Room at Nuremberg, Enid Shomer 30 Choni, The Circle Man, Asher Torren 31 The Non-Emigrant (My Father in Nazi Germany), Lotte Kramer 33 On Shutting the Door, Lotte Kramer 34 Fugue, Lotte Kramer 35 A New Subject, Lotte Kramer 36 The Class of '38, Herbert Kuhner 37 Circus, Vera Weislitz 38 THE NIGHTMARE BECOMES REALITY Kristallnacht, Sue Saniel Elkind 43 Last Train to Auschwitz, Lois Van Houten 44 I'm Chugging into France, Julia Stein 47 Heading East, Davi Walders 49 Goethe's Tree, Annie Dawid 50 The Synagogue of Florence, Lena L. Charney 52 Perhaps a Friend of Anne Frank's, Samuel Exler 53 "More Light! More Light!" Anthony Hecht 54 Like Butterflies, Mark Pawlak 56 Photo, Krakow 1939, Donna Reis 58 The German Officer Writes a Letter, Elisavietta Ritchie 59 To Make Sacred, Reeve Robert Brenner 62 Doubling, Lester Speiser 64 The Death of the Partisan Girl: Russia, Tom Wayman 66 Even the old men's last breath, Nelly Sachs 68 Abuse, Dahlia Ravikovitch • 70 At Babi Yar, Jo Nelson 71 After the War, Lily Brett 72 A Jewish Baby in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1941, Leatrice Lifshitz 74 Dachau '44, Judith Berke 76 Unanswerable Questions, Terezin, Reva Sharon 77 Letter to Dina, John Bradley \ 79 See, Nadia! P. M. Callen v 81 Folk Art, Judith Chalmer 83 Children's Dreams at Theresienstadt, Margaret DelGuercio 85 Buchenwald, Samuel Exler 87 Rehearsal at Terezin, Darcy Gottlieb 89 Die Verarbeitung, Processing, Mark Pawlak 91 CONTENTS Treblinka, 1944, T. W. Perkins 93 At Birkenau, T. W. Perkins 96 Sweet Sixteen, Vera Weislitz 97 Children II, Lily Brett 99 Invisible, Lily Brett 101 Selection, Lily Brett 103 Another Selection, Lily Brett 106 The Toilet, Lily Brett 108 Possessions of the Rich, Lily Brett 110 The Sonderkommando, Lily Brett 114 The First Job, Lily Brett 116 Renya's Baby, Lily Brett 118 To the Left, Lily Brett 121 Overload, Lily Brett 124 The Shower, Jill Bart 128 A Message from the Past for the Present, Christina Pacosz 130 Gas Ovens, Joanna M. Weston •• 131 Warsaw Ghetto, Harold Black 132 Poland, Lily Brett 133 Home Movie of Poland, Colette Inez 136 Faces in Swamps, Abraham Sutzkever 138 A Voice from the Heart, Abraham^ Sutzkever 140 I Feel Like Saying a Prayer, Abraham Sutzkever 141 Burnt Pearls, Abraham Sutzkever * 142 I Am Lying in This Coffin, Abraham Sutzkever 143 To the Thin Vein in My Head, Abraham Sutzkever 145 On the Subject of Roses, Abraham Sutzkever 146 For a Comrade, Abraham Sutzkever 147 Poland, Daniel Weissbort 149 CONTENTS IN MEMORIAM Like the Flash of a Bird's Wing, Marguerite M. Striar 153 The Holocaust Museum in Washington, Leo Haber 155 The Sky Was Not a Friendly Place, Patricia D'Alessandro 156 Kol Nidre, Elayne Goldman Clift 159 Yahrzeit, Miriam Kessler 161 Bronze Drama, Yala Korwin 163 Zalman, Seymour Mayne 165 I Mourn My Death, Pauline K. Schmookler 167 Memorial Day: The Viet Nam Memorial, Cynthia Pinkus Russell 169 October Flowers in Prague, Rodney Pybus 171 To Gisi Fleischmann, Joan Campion 173 Learning the Part of Otto Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, Mark Cannaday 175 To Rosa Cavalieri, who was taken to the camps, Grace Cavalieri 177 Personal to Kaplan, Judith Ch'almer 179 Female Jewish History: Aunt Anka, Jean Colonomos 181 Female Jewish History: Aunt Tanya, Jean Colonomos 182 For Janusz Korczak, Charles Fishman 183 Isolde, Dead in Vichy France, Jean Hollander 184 Buddha and Me, Barry Ivker \ 185 Kristallnacht '88, Marta Knobloch 189 For Mirjam Lenka, Barbara Lefcowitz 190 Raoul Wallenberg Slept Well Last Night, Jim Ignatius Mills 195 Mystery My History, Victor Mingovits 197 Poem Beginning with a Line by Fitzgerald/Hemingway, Alicia Ostriker 200 Martyr, Elizabeth Rees 205 In Der Nacht (In the Night), Curtis Robbins 207 CONTENTS The Beginning of the Lies, Diana Rubin 209 Kaddish for Felix Nussbaum (1904-1944), Willa Schneberg 211 Ursula Goetze, Gary Sea 214 Erika.von Brockdorff, Gary Sea 216 Ottilie Pohl, Gary Sea 218 Motele the Incongruous, Lester Speiser 219 Martyrs of Israel, Bradley R. Strahan 222 The March of the Orphans—August 5, 1942, Rich Michelson 223 Two Boys 1940-44, Lotte Kramer 225 Jankel, Andre Heller 227 Last Rites for Bert Brecht, Mimi Grossberg 228 Biography, Stella Rotenberg 229 In the Absence of Yellow, Reva Sharon 230 Shoshana, Reva Sharon 232 THE LIBERATION The Last Day, Lily Brett 237 This Broken Silence, Bruce V. J. Curley 240 Twilight of the World, Jacob Glatstein 245 A New Command, Jo Nelson 246 The Shower, TsipiKeller ~'x 247 THE AFTERMATH Anonymous Recollection, Robert Anbian 251 Auschwitz, August 1988, Linda Ashear 252 Kristallnacht, 1991, Crystal V. Bacon 254 The Tattoo, Judith Berke 255 Inscribed, Lisa Bernstein 256 Displaced, Lily Brett 257 CONTENTS I Have Never Known, Lily Brett 259 The Immigration Man, Lily Brett 261 The Cake, Lily Brett 263 An Die Musik (Schubert), Ruth Daigon 266 The Death Mazurka, Charles Fishman 268 The Children, Charles Fishman 271 Train to Munich, D. Dina Friedman 272 This Week, Roberta Gould 273 Being Seemingly Unscathed, Israel Halpern 276 The Chosen, Jean Hollander 278 Bone Songs, Barry Ivker 280 Family Tree, Alvin M. Laster 283 Rebecca, Toby Lorber 284 Traveling to Der Bad, Arlene Maass 289 Celia Dances, Stanley Nelson 292 Recognition, On My Child's Face, Betty Renshaw 293 The Man with the Monocle, Layle Silbert 295 Grandmother Lost, Esther Crystal 297 Taking the Holocaust to Bed, Annie Dawid 298 Stateless Person, Annie Dawid 300 The History of Night, Dina Elenbogen 302 Survivor, Elizabeth Rees 305 Sealed, Bina Goldfield \ 306 Household Rules. Farwell Avenue, Chicago 1946, Lisa Ress 308 Tattoo, Gregg Shapiro 309 Portraits of the Shadows in the Flames, Leslie What 310 Trapped in Mea Shearim, Shel Krakofsky 312 Where Jackals Run and Vultures Fly, Thomas R. Verny 314 A Ballad for Tourists, Larry Rubin 317 Collectible, Anna Bart 319 Because No One Said "No!" Roseline Intrater 320 CONTENTS Judische Friedhof: Kaiserslautern, Emily Carolyn Joyce 323 After Visiting Dachau, Rita Kiefer 325 Use's Poem, Rita Kiefer 326 Daughter, A Gift of Red Shoes, Kendall LeCompte 327 Springtime Near Munich, Merrill Leffler 328 1945, Bernard Mikofsky 332 Cambodian Holocaust, Bernard Mikofsky 334 The Fifties, E. Ethelbert Miller 335 Malediction, Karl Plank 336 Ash Wednesday, Karl Plank 338 One More Holocaust Poem, Elliot Richman 340 Rage Before Pardon: An Interview with Elie Wiesel, Marguerite M. Striar 341 The Children's Museum at the Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem, Joanne Seltzer 343 Dachau 1968, Joan I. Siegel 345 Anne Frank, John Foster West *. 347 The Suitcase, Evelyn Wexler 348 Tourist at Dachau, Evelyn Wexler 349 Badge, Michele Wolf 351 In the Kibbutz Laundry, Elaine Starkman 352 The Burden of Memory, Kenny Fries 353 What Is Required, Jacob Gusewelle \ 357 Roots, Helene Hoffman .. 358 Hello, Mitchell Waldman 359 Yom Hashoah, Never Again, Shel Krakofsky 360 Danger: No Explosives, Shel Krakofsky 362 My Jewish Husband, Sandra Collier Verny 363 No More Mozart, Dannie Abse 365 Role Reversal, Anne Kind 367 Two Poems, Walter Bauer 368 CONTENTS Traveling to the Capitals, Walter Bauer 370 Free from Shame, Neil C. Scott 372 The Victims of the "Victims," Peter Daniel 373 Again, Tamar Radzyner 374 The Gardens, David Curzon 375 Remembrance, Bruce Bennett 377 Seriatim, Robert Frauenglas 378 Overlooking Jena, Paul Cummins 381 Survivor, Barbara Goldberg , 382 The Shop, Elliot Richman 384 These Ultimate Survivors, Marguerite M. Striar 385 The Daughter of Survivors, Hilary Tham (Goldberg) 387 33 Union Square West, David Gershator 389 Herringbone Overcoat, Jacob Gusewelle 391 Insects Won the Battle, Herman Taube 392 My Mother's Prayer Book, Shel Krakofsky 394 In a Bicycle Repair Shop, Shel Krakofsky 396 The Survivor, A. Alvarez 397 An Old Story, B. Z. Niditch 398 Sonnets, Richard Newman 399 In Memory of Smoke, Michael Waters 402 Pinochle Day, Frieda Arkin v 404 Outcast, Bina Goldfield \ 406 'Remembering, Enid Shomer ., 407 Forging Links, Joan Seliger Sidney 409 Arbeit Macht Frei, Reva Sharon 411 Lettuce for Anne Frank, Janice Townley Moore 413 Berlin: Savoy Hotel, Herman Taube 414 El Tango Fabuloso, Asher Torren Alb Lithuania, Myra Sklarew 417 A Letter to Hans Puvogel, Paul Cummins 421 CONTENTS Inspection, Deborah DeNicola 422 Cinema III, Christopher Fahy 424 Art and Politics, Barry Ivker 427 Criminal Sonnet XXXVIII, Phyllis Koestenbaum 428 Ronald Reagan in Germany, Joanne Seltzer 429 Our Holocaust Dead, Hilary Tham (Goldberg) 430 Waiting to Go Home, Bill Siegel 431 How Can They Say It Never Happened} Joan Fondell 433 Psalm 1, David Curzon 434 Adam, Yevgeny Vinokurov 436 Song of Songs, Iakovos Kambanelis 437 Testimony, Dan Pagis 439 Draft of a Reparations Agreement, Dan Pagis 440 Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway Car, Dan Pagis 442 Deathfugue, Paul Celan 443 O the chimneys, Nelly Sachs 446 A Shade from Auschwitz, Cornel Adam 448 Ezekiel in the Valley, Cornel Adam 449 Where Were You, Lily Brett 450 On the Propensity of the Human Species to Repeat Error, Christina Pacosz 453 It Is Raining on the House of Anne Frank, Linda Pastan 455 Response, Linda Pastan \ 457 God Teaches Us How to Forgive, But We Forget, Louis Phillips 458 Perhaps You Wish to Learn Another Language, Louis Phillips 460 The Unseen, Robert Pinsky 461 Gypsy Soup, Morrie Warshawski 464 Yellow Stars, Michael Waters 466 Vigil in the Darkness, Dean Smith 468 CONTENTS ' There Are Times You Must Wonder, /.