I am a Holocaust Victim

Poem written for the Point Loma poetry contest in '08 (2nd Place)

I am a Holocaust Victim

By Saskia Liddick

 

Dogs bark, people cry, gravel turns,

Under Nazi wheels in Auschwitz.

Soldiers laugh, prisoners pray, I sweat,

The snowballs of smoke come from vertical cigars.

 

Hinges creak, Nazis shout, women faint,

At the sight of the dark skies and amber sun.

Children stare, husbands comfort, dogs whine,

Longing for the taste of Jewish blood.

 

Women left, children left, weak left, me left,

Away from men, husbands, and sons.

Men right, strong right, able bodied right,

All to be registered for forced labor.

 

I am a Holocaust victim, subject to Hitler’s "Nobel Cause"

 

Orders barked, possessions abandoned, rings depart,

Dropped into overflowing vats of jewels.

Silence long, air cold, fear strong, hope weak,

Why is this happening to us? Why are we here?

 

Feet shuffle, guards joke, eyes stare,

 we parade slowly into the mouth of hell.

A Rabbi speaks, a solider shouts, the Rabbi falls,

The death procession is a five minute eternity.

 

Doors open, we enter, women scream,

Shower chambers hold no promise.

Doors slam, bolts lock, lights out,

People fall onto their knees and pray.

 

I am a Holocaust victim, subject to Hitler’s "Nobel Cause"

 

Breathe in, breathe out, pray, and wait,

For Death to come and register my name.

Pipes rattle, something hisses, air flows,

I hold my last sweet breath of life.

 

People gasp, others faint, children cry,

Calling for mommy and daddy to help.

I collapse, close my eyes, cover my mouth,

Holding onto each bit of remaining life.

 

People die, hearts stop, fall asleep,

I slowly let out each smoke of air.

Say goodbye, inhale deep, feeling dizzy,

My lungs struggle with the toxic.

 

I am a Holocaust victim, subject to Hitler’s "Nobel Cause"

 

Eyes open, see everything, and see nothing,

My dead iris stares at the silver gas.

Life gone, death awaits, open arms,

He greets me and the rest of us.

 

Arms lift, carry me, a corpse,

And victim to Nazi hands and Hitler.

Bodies fall, broken bones, onto carts,

The ovens await our flesh and bones.

 

See the skies, see the stars, see the Heaven,

Is where my shredded body longs to be.

Hear hinges, feel rust, see red,

My body falls into the ovens.

 

I am a Holocaust victim, subject to Hitler’s "Nobel Cause"

 

Going up, tumble somewhere, see clouds,

My ashes join the cigar smoke.

Never more, see pain, or feel,

As I flutter away as a cinder into Heaven.

 

My life, my story, my pain, are known,

To the world of today and tomorrow.

They know, the horrors, of all, because,

I am a Holocaust victim, subject to Hitler’s "Nobel Cause"

Author's Note

If any of you have read the other version of I am a Holocaust victim, you will see the difference. I changed "subject to Hitler's evil" to "Nobel Cause" because I was originally writing this from a nutural perspective, because I knew a bunch of people of different ideas would be reading this, and I don't want to start any arguements. I say "Nobel Cause" because people thought what he was doing was just, and others thought otherwise.
Enjoy :)

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

The poem is powerful. I went to the Death camps in 1977. The smell of hair and death was still there. Your poem told a real story. The scary part it was allowed without anyone trying to stop the murder of the Jews and the Gypsy. I met one man who lived. He broke my heart with his story. A outstanding story.
Coyote