I sit and I imagine

Strangers walk into the room.

We show them all compassion

In hope of relationships that will bloom.

I am awkward and not myself,

For theses are people I've never known.

But I know that soon I will be shown

The hearts of these strangers - no longer alone.

The untold stories may be an elephant in the room.

We know that they're not yet coming soon.

But just maybe we can first become good friends,

And know each other well, until no end.

I hope we will connect

And I hope no one will object.

I see the future full of laughter,

Full of sadness,

Full of hope.

Full of joy,

Full of learning.

Full of stories that we'll see

Through a million shattered pieces

Of a kaleidoscope.

Barbed wire.

Stripes and sticks.

Stripes and sticks and hats and numbers.

Piles of hair,

Piles of shoes.

Piles of pots and pans and combs and brushes.

Piles of clothes,

Piles of bodies.

Piles of belongings,

Piles of sanity.

Piles of life,

Piles of hope.

Piles of ashes,

Piles of names.

Endless names.

Endless names and endless pages.

Endless images and endless stories.

Endless hatred, endless cruelty.

Endless propaganda, endless brainwash.

Endless heartlessness, endless power.

Power to the Reich.

Power to the Nazis.

Power to the resistance,

Power to their deaths.

Power to the gentiles,

Power to their murderers.

Power to the Jewish people,

Power to their state.

Power to surrounding countries,

Power to the Jewish state. (Fate)

Power to our state.

Power to our homeland.

Power to our hope and our strength and our God.

Power to Goodness.

Power to Hope.

Power to Kindness.

Power to Equality.

Power to Love.

Love of everyone and everything.

Love of God,

Love of religion.

Love of people,

Love of respect.

Respect for everyone and everything.

Respect for all human beings.

Because that’s all we really are.

To choose one over the other,

To say YOU are better, YOU are worse.

YOU are weak and YOU are strong.

YOU are magnificent, but YOU are worthless.

No more cruelty. No more hate.

No more pain and no more ignorance.

No more blind followers,

No more intolerance.

No more.

No more.

Just remember, and learn.

Remember.

זכור,

Remember.

זכור ושמור

בדיבור אחד

At first, they took my home.

But, I still knew who I was.

Then they took my community.

But, I still knew who I was.

Then, they took my possessions.

My pots and pans, my jewelry and clothes.

But I still knew who I was.

They took away my family. My sister, my brother, my child, my parents.

But, I still knew who I was.

They ripped the hair out of my head, and took away my appearance.

But, I still knew who I was.

My name, that was next.

Soon I was known by nothing but a number.

But I still knew who I was.

They took away my physical strength.

I was frail and afraid.

But, I still knew who I was.

They tried to take away my belief in God,

But that is one thing that they will never take.

They started to take my life,

And the last words that left my mouth were,

Thank you God for the life that you gave me.

I still knew who I was.

Then they took my life.

Be kind to everyone around you,

It could save your life one day.

Everyone deserves a chance.

You can never assume.

Follow your gut

And be strong through your tears.

Know who you are

And never give it up.

Your shaky hands hold the strength of a thousand armies.

Your smiles carry the happiness of a million suns.

Your eyes see the best in everyone

In every situation, you see hope.

Your words speak the wisdoms of the universe,

And it changes us.

Be passionate and never give it up, you tell me.

If you’ve got an idea, well it’s not useful if it’s only in your head.

Get up, work hard, and don’t ever put it to bed.

Always be the best person you can be, there aren’t enough good people out there.

Fight for your identity, don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t be.

Hold your head high with dignity

And push though the hard times, one day you will be freed.

Your shaky hands hold the strength of a thousand armies.

Your smiles carry the happiness of a million suns.

Your eyes see the best in everyone

In every situation, you see hope.

Your words speak the wisdoms of the universe.

And it changed me.

Don’t cry, they say, I will hold you.

But you are the ones who should need our shoulders.

I’ve never met a stronger bunch of soldiers

with the biggest hearts,

The largest wisdom,

The best minds of our time

And the teachers of the future.

Don’t frown, they say, life is wonderful.

Even after all the hell they’ve seen.

The most beautiful souls I will ever encounter

are right here, and they did nothing to deserve

the cards they were delt.

Somehow they’ve gotten here.

I will never again be surrounded by a room filled with such love

Born into a time of such hatred.

Your shaky hands hold the strength of a thousand armies.

Your smiles carry the happiness of a million suns.

Your eyes see the best in everyone

In every situation, you see hope.

Your words speak the wisdoms of the universe.

And it made me who I will choose to be

For the rest of my life.

Her strong hands;

So strong, they surprise me.

My weak body;

So weak, I can’t help it.

And she holds me tight.

She envelopes me in love and warmth,

And yet she’s the one who I should be holding.

She’s the one who’s been to hell and back.

And I’ve only been to an ugly part of heaven

And I’m having such a hard time getting back.

How is she so strong?

Her wrinkled fingers squeeze my hand.

And I’m ashamed I can’t hold myself up.

She’s been through it all,

And can hold us both

Somehow.

She’s a million times stronger than I’ll ever be,

A million times stronger than me.

Every word that is said

Makes me feel heavier,

Heavier.

Every story with weight

Pulls me down,

Down.

And I walk out a different person

Than I was an hour ago.

And the words that are rocks they pull me,

Pull me.

Then we all hold hands and I breathe,

Breathe.

And I walk out a different person

Than I was an hour ago.

I walk out

With a weight on my chest

And a light in my mind.

I walk out

With a weight on my chest

And a light in my mind.

All the trees have eyes

And they are all witnesses.

They felt the splatters of blood,

The tears of the broken.

The hatred of the executors,

The sadness of the loss.

They saw what happened and they just stood there.

They hid the outside world from knowing the truth.

They watched as horrors occurred in Treblinka.

But, they’re still here.

They stayed to remind us of what happened.

They stand tall and protect the vast monuments

In remembrance of the towns.

Trees - good or bad, who can say?

One, two, three, four, five, six million,

I sit amongst their memories.

One, two, three, four, five, six million,

All that’s left is names

One, two, three, four, five, six million,

And all that’s left is us.

One, two, three, four, five, six million,

I have to be enough.

One, two, three, four, five, six million.

Dead.

So I must live for them.