Six Million

A little tribute to those who lost their lives during, those who lived through, and those who helped the victims of the Holocaust. Too late for Holocaust Remembrance Day, but I still felt it worth putting up.

 Six Million

 

Autumn has come – leaves swirl to the ground

A girl sits alone on an old park bench

Watching the leaves and the bustling town

Unconcerned when the old man sat down

He had a sign on his neck – small black numbers

And a look on his face that says he remembers

 

Moments go by – the girl sees the mark

Gathering her courage, she dares to ask

He touched the sign and, still feeling it there,

Breathed out a sigh that showed in the air

"It took place long ago and has no glory.

But I’ll never forget – I’ll tell you the story . . .

 

"Imagine, young one, a world at war

Ruled by tyrants and madmen full of hate

You’re a simple young boy, hardly yet ten

Our world was so much more brutal then

You’d done nothing wrong, you were simply a Jew,

But it took only that for a man to hate you.

 

"Taken from home, shoved onto a truck

Crowded together next to your neighbors

You hear the whispers, feel scared and alone

Your friends aren’t with you – you’re on your own

You’ll never forget the fear on the faces

In the mix of all those non-Aryan races

 

"The truck stops and your feet touch the ground

Of the place where you’ll live and want to die

That truck ride was short compared to your stay

At that dread work camp day after day

You watch your own people fight, suffer, and die

Sweat mingles with your great salty tears as you cry

 

"You suffer there for three long, hard years

Before you hear the whispers in the camp

Escapees aided by good German men

Gaining their freedom – flying again!

You hear of the courage of one German man

Your decision was made -- your feet ached as you ran.

 

"You meet him in the small secret place

Of the storage shed behind your small hut

He tells you he’s planned on a run that night

And you were away before first light

You see through Joy’s tears the bright glint of a gun

As the soldier fell, wounded, he told you to run

 

"And with tears falling, run you did

You’ll never forget that brave soldier’s risk

The glint in his eyes – he wasn’t afraid

Of death, nor man, nor total disdain

He had been so willing to endure that strife

For a young stranger’s freedom, he lay down his life."

 

As the man’s terrible tale ended

The young girl on the bench dried her moist eyes

"And the tattoo on your neck – that number –

Is it there to help you remember?"

He sighed again as the crisp autumn wind blew,

"No, my dear," the old man said, "I keep it for you.

 

"I keep it to remind the young ones

Of the lessons the past has given us

And to make amends for what I regret

To teach the children to ne’er forget

All the lives – Jews and that German – that were lost

During that horrid reign of terror called the Holocaust."

Author's Note

I wrote this a few years ago. Again, a little late for Yom Hashoah, and not as good as it could be, but I still felt it worth posting . . .

Reviews

[Thoctar]

A beautiful, impactful and meaningful Poem. Way to go!