I’m Declan Dunn, founder of Remember.org, exploring how Holocaust poetry humanizes history. With The Song Remains sharing this because I was inspired 42 years ago by a poem by Charlotte Delbo, a Holocaust survivor.
The Song Remains is an online anthology of over 160 Yiddish poems by 36 authors with English translations. The poems were written in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War, compiled by Binem Heller, and published in Warsaw in 1951.The collection holds the treasure of creative poetry written by people who were imprisoned, starved, and ultimately murdered. The poems cover a wide range of themes, from the light-hearted love of nature, to the trials of coming of age in the Ghetto, and ultimately trying to come to terms with hatred, destruction, and death.The English translations are by Dr Sarah Traister Moskovitz, a 96-year-old native Yiddish speaker and professor emerita from California State University, Northridge.
My Remember.org work began in a class where history at the surface was a summary told by the victors, a perception telling what happened always the what and the facts debated and refined, often by intellects judging the past.
How does Holocaust Poetry humanize history – Annotations
United States Holocaust Museum on Poetry
“Whether written for publication or for private reflection, poetry and literature can express ideas and emotions in unique ways. During the years of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust, poetry and literature became important means of self-expression, documentation, activism, and propaganda. “
Facing History and Ourselves on Poetry: Sonia Weitz Poem
But let me take you back to that moment, sitting in that classroom, when I first encountered Delbo’s Holocaust poem.
It was as if a veil had been lifted, revealing the raw human experience beneath the cold facts of history.
Her words didn’t just tell me what happened; it made me feel it and understand it in a way no textbook ever could.
Poetry is perspective, showing the human, the individual, beneath the experience of history, bringing it beyond facts to connect us to what actually happened during the Holocaust.
And as Leonard Cohen once sang,
there is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.
Poetry is the light that cracks history open. It shows the light, the experience, and the humanity of what people went through during the Holocaust.
Imagine standing in the shoes of a Holocaust survivor. The facts might tell you about dates, numbers, and locations.
But poetry? Poetry tells you about the weight of fear in their chest, the sound of footsteps that meant danger, and the small acts of kindness that kept hope alive.
It’s through these poetic glimpses that we truly begin to understand the humanity of the Holocaust.
Holocaust Poetry gives us what’s beneath the surface of history, a three-dimensional experience. Instead of trying to narrow it down.
The Song Remains gave us permission to share one poem, in English then in its original Yiddish, to get an idea of how Holocaust poetry humanizes history:
What Does This Old Gray Jew Want From Me
by Kalman Lis
What does this old gray Jew want from me
Who comes to me to visit every night
And weighs me down with sadness and dark fears
With eyes black holes with tears
Can I return to him the shine of his eyes
The darkness – two black nights
And do I want to be the judge
That tells him, yes, you’re right.
A thousand times yes, Grandpa… and then believe me
The worst punishment yet will come to them
But I, who am no more than a poet
Can do no more than comfort with a verse
And give you comfort for your sorrow
With song that will serve as stem
For a blessed dove who carries in her beak
A green leaf of hope, over a dark sea
But the old man stays dumb and blind
In late fall a barren tree
And blood is running from his eyes
And stains deep red my blue dream
Yiddish Version of the Holocaust Poem
װאַס װיל פון מיר דער אַלטער גרױער ײד…
קלמן לים
װאָס װיל פון מיר דער גרױער, אלטער ײד,
װאָס קומט מיט יעדער נאַכט צו מיר צוגײן
און לײגט זיך אזױ שװער אױף מײן געמיט
מיט אױגן — שװארצע לעכער פול געװײן?
צי קען איך דען אים אומקערן די שײן
פון אױגן זײנע — פינצטערע צװײ נעכט,
און זאָל איך יאָ דער ריכטער װעלן זײן,
װאָס קאָן איך מער װי זאָגן, ביסט גערעכט.
טױזנט מאָל יאָ זײדע… גלױב מיר ס’װעט
און ס’מוז נאָך קומען װען פאר זײ די שטראָף;
נאָר איך, װאָס בין נישט מער, װי א פּאָעט,
װאָס קאָן איך נאָך, װי טרײסטן מיט מײן סטראָף.
און געבן דיר א תיקון צו דײן גרױל
מיט ליד, װאָס דאַרף איצט דינען פאר מײן שטאַם,
װי נחס טױב מיט גרינער בלאַט אין מױל,
— א האָפענונג אין ברױנעם, שװאַרצן ים.
נאָר ס’בלײבט דער אַלטער װײטער שטום און בלינד —
אין שפּעטן האַרבסט אן אָפּגעפליקטער בױם,
און ס’בלוט פון זײנע אױגן־לעכער רינט
און פלעקט אױף רױט מיר אױס מײן בלױען טרױם…
Like the Yiddish poem The Ring, written by Miriam Ulinover, who was one of the only Orthodox female poets of her time.
“Parted from this ring.
I will never choose.
My heart could not survive.
Tighter, smaller grows.
My life in the ring has now grown loose.”
In words like these, the poetry becomes a bridge to Holocaust history. Other examples include the works of Paul Celan [1], Nelly Sachs [2], and Primo Levi [3], each offering a unique perspective on the Holocaust.
Consider Ulinover’s words for a moment. In just a few lines, she captures not just the loss of a physical object but the shrinking of a whole world, a culture under threat during the Holocaust.
This ring isn’t just jewelry; it’s identity, tradition, and resistance. Through her Holocaust poem, we’re not just learning about history – we’re feeling it, living it.
Beneath the battles and what we’ve read in history classes. It’s the struggle, the experience, the Yiddish culture. Fragile.
In the case of these poems, a statement that I am alive, I was here.
Holocaust Poetry also fills in the gaps because a great poem, when you read it, you want to go deeper. There are gaps in there.
What’s missing? How can I learn more?
These gaps and questions are the heartbeats of proper historical understanding. They push us to dig deeper, to seek out more voices and more perspectives on the Holocaust.
It’s not about memorizing dates and names but about understanding the tapestry of human experience that makes up our past.
Like Alexander Kimel, who shared his poem “I cannot forget,” which echoes “Never Shall I Forget” by Elie Wiesel.
It is a poem that talks about his experience during the Holocaust at Rohatyn, and what that does is invite the students not to study who was there, what the battle was, and who the generals were.
But from a people’s perspective, a people’s history of the Holocaust is not a history written to persuade, a history written to be remembered and to be shared.
Read Kimel’s powerful words about the Holocaust:
“Do I want to remember?
The peaceful ghetto, before the raid:
Children shaking like leaves in the wind.
Mothers searching for a piece of bread.
Shadows, on swollen legs, moving with fear.
No, I don’t want to remember, but how can I forget?”
In these lines, Kimel doesn’t just tell us about the Holocaust ghetto – he shows us.
We see the children and feel their fear. We understand the desperation of mothers and the weakness of the starving. This isn’t just history; it is humanity laid bare during the Holocaust.
History gives us answers. Poetry keeps us asking questions, going deeper, and remembering the Holocaust.
Poetry doesn’t just complement our understanding of history – it completes it. It gives voice to the voiceless, brings light to the darkest corners of human experience, and ensures that we do more than just know our history – we feel it, live it, and carry it forward.
Yad Vashem Museum shares the importance of Holocaust poetry in education:
Understanding what and empathizing with whom? If one teaches a poem called “Testimony”,1 written by a Holocaust survivor, Dan Pagis, pupils will confront the subject of personal identity in a context where its erasure was sought as an ideological imperative. The poem juxtaposes the identities of three protagonists; the perpetrators, the poet as a representative of the victims, and the creator. In short shrift, eleven lines of his poem, Pagis succeeds in turning the identities upside-down. The student will likely “feel” the pain of the victim and better understand the relationship between the perpetrators and the victims.
What can a Sixth Grade Student’s Poem in 1993 tell us about the Holocaust?
Imagine Art Gallery: Room 1 – Children’s Art about the Holocaust
That urge to go deeper leads us to expressions like the poem Birdsong. This was written by a sixth grader in 1993 with no connection to the Holocaust, but with study, poetry and art. Inspired by teacher said, now you show me what you said, what your poetry is.
This is the power of poetry in understanding history. It doesn’t just inform future generations; it inspires them to connect, to empathize, to create.
This sixth grader, decades removed from the events, still found a way to channel that pain, that hope, into something beautiful and profound.
And in Birdsong, what she writes is
“He doesn’t know the world at all, nor what to sing about.
I do, but does it matter?
I feel trapped here. My love for all things vanish.
Trapped beyond reality in a nightmare.
I know I’d open my heart to beauty and
go into the woods
Someday. I hope that one day
I will realize how wonderful
it is to be alive.”
These words, from a child in 1993, echo the sentiments of those who lived through the darkest times of human history.
They speak to the universal human experience of suffering, hope, and resilience. This is how poetry bridges time, connecting us across generations to the essence of what it means to be human.
The Power of Holocaust Poetry in Remembrance
Holocaust poetry offers a unique and powerful lens through which to understand this dark chapter in human history. It bypasses the sterility of facts and figures, instead bringing us face-to-face with the emotions, experiences, and losses endured by those who lived through it.
Through these poems, we encounter the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable horror.
We witness courage, kindness, and defiance that defy the depths of human cruelty.
Holocaust poetry compels us to not only remember the atrocities but also to celebrate the strength and dignity of those who persevered.
It fosters empathy and understanding, ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten.
Let us continue to honor the victims of the Holocaust by remembering their stories, their struggles, and their enduring humanity.
Let Holocaust poetry be a constant reminder of the importance of tolerance, compassion, and the fight against oppression in all its forms.
CITATIONS
[2] Nelly Sachs poem – Flight and Metamorphosis
[3] “The Pain of Remembering”: Primo Levi’s Poetry and the Function of Memory
