64
Friday, April 11, 1980
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Martyrs, Heroes Remembrance Day — Poems of the Holocaust
(Editors note: Anna Sotto was born in Scotland
and is now a teacher in Tivon, near Haifa. These
poems are taken from a book of poems called Two
Israeli Voices' by Anna Sotto and David Schaal pub-
lished by Outposts Publications, England.
(Sandra Cohen arrived in Israel 12 years ago from
Montreal, Canada. Her article4`and poetry have been
published in Australia, the United States, Canada and
Israel. "And I Don't Forget" is from her new collection
of poems "Second Thoughts" published by Tal,
Jerusalem.)
Memento Mori — Poems for Katia
By ANNA SOTTO
While I was debating
trimming my hair
or having it waved,
—yours was all shaved off.
While you were waiting
to be Selected
as one of The Chosen,
—I was let off — Scot free.
I try to see you
as you were,
a shaven head
a nameless face,
reduced -to
this number.
The Women's Orchestra — Auschwitz
By ANNA SOTTO
Give us each day .. .
their daily bread
was the Death March.
The hollow-eyed wraiths of Birkenau
distorted Sousa, for the animated corpses
shuffling by. Woman, playing for time,
in Humanity's Requiem:
I want to speak out
and touch you
but .-. .
we chat over tea
in the ten o'clock break
as teachers do.
By ANNA SOTTO
By ANNA SOTTO
While I was contemplating
entering a teachers' college
or furthering my knowledge of art,
you entered a concentration camp.
While I was considering
weeding the path
or sweeping dead leaves,
—you were piling up bodies for graves.
Chatting over tea
in the ten o'clock break
as teachers do—
I catch a glimpse
of the blue number
tattooed on your arm.
A 6893
But for the Grace — Poems for Katia
She didn't cry
when they removed
her clothes, her ring,
her shoes, her hair,
But when they took away
her name —
she wept.
and I don't forget
By SANDRA COHEN
(in memory of my grandparents who perished in the
holocaust)
two minutes
of silence
and the screams
of six million
tear my soul
I stand
chilled
broken
and my heart
wails
and my tears
sting
two minutes
of silence
and I ache
and I don't
forget
Survivor
By ANNA SOTTO
Ak.<
"Underneath the Smoke of the Crematorium," a
drawing done by a concentration camp inmate.
Padlock -
the racked memories
lest they seep
through the cracks
into your broken sleep
with screaming nightmares.
Muffle
the awful sounds
lest they return to haunt you
with the humiliation
of belonging to
the Family of Man.
The death camp slogan "Works Makes Free," a
drawing done by a concentration camp inmate.
Survivor Recalls the Revolt of the Auschwitz Sonderkommando
physically unfit for the
work because of the terrible
JERUSALEM — Sitting conditions in the camp.
Meanwhile, a resis-
in his Jerusalem apart-
ment, Milton Buki sighs de- tance movement had
eply as he recalls his 26 come into being in Au-
months internment in the schwitz. It was made up
Auschwitz-Birkenau ex- of different national re-
termination camp, and the sistance groups. Their
- desperate uprising of the task was mutual help
Jewish "Sonderkommando" among the prisoners and
(special squad), more than the saving of prisoners'
35 years ago, on Oct. 7, lives as far as was possi-
ble under the circum-
1944.
Buki belonged to the stances, as well as to pre-
Sonderkommando that pare for an uprising.
The Jewish resistance
worked in the crematoria
burning the corpses of group was a notable part of
Jewish men, women and that underground organiza-
children who had been as- tion in the camp. It was
phyxiated in gas chambers their task secretly to bring
disguised as shower rooms. explosives from the Krupp
They worked in day and arms factory in Auschwitz,
night shifts to cope with the where Jewish women
great number of Jews worked at slave labor. They
,transported, for extermina- also collected benzine, little
tion purposes, to Auschwitz by little, hiding it away for
from all over Nazi-occupied the future.
These Jews, especially
Europe. A small percentage
the younger ones who were
of them were detailed to
members of Zionist youth
forced labor, to be murdered
movements, dreamed of re-
later on when they became
By GITTA SILBER
World Zionist Organization
sistance. They gained and sent off discreetly to
encouragement and inspi- other extermination camps
ration from the Warsaw to be gassed and burned.
Ghetto Uprising and were
In autumn 1944, with the
proud of the fact that the Red Army coming closer,
first of the extensive revolts the Nazis stopped mass
against the Nazis in the transports of Jews to Au-
great cities of Europe was schwitz. This is when the
carried out by Jews.
Sonderkommando knew
They knew full well that their last hour had
that the Germans in- come, because they were not
tended to destroy the needed any more. When the
Jewish people, but they Germans tried to trick them
resolved to fight honora- into going to another camp
bly rather than go meekly to be murdered, it took the
to the gas chambers. "kommando" only a few
Since they were doomed minutes to rise in revolt.
to death anyway, they
They set fire to one of the
would let their oppres- crematoria,
knifed a hated,
sors pay a price for it.
brutal
German
and threw
The Sonderkommando
him
into
the
burning
fur-
was separated from the rest
of the prisoners in the camp nace, and killed a few other
because they knew too SS men in face-to-face
much, and had to be pre- battle. They then broke
vented from telling others through the fence and about
about the mass extermina- 300 prisoners fled. How-
tions of Jews and their ever, they were soon caught
forced job of burning the by the Nazis and killed.
corpses in the crematoria. Only a few survived.
Nevertheless, the other
For the same reasons they
were periodically replaced prisoners were
encouraged by the revolt,
which gave them new
hope. Having crushed the
uprising successfully, the
Nazis wanted to know
how the prisoners got the
dynamite. They infil-
trated a Nazi agent
among the forced labor-
ers at the arms factory.
Four young girls were ar-
rested, among them Ruza
Robote who was in charge of
the smuggling.
The four young girls
were hung and the
women who worked in
the ammunition factory
were compelled to wit-
ness the hanging. The
condemned marched
calmly and proudly to
their end and Ruza's last
word was "vengeance."
Milton Buki tells how he
had managed to stay alive
in such a hell: The Rus-
sians were approaching and
the Nazis did their best to
efface all signs of their un-
speakable crimes. They also
evacuated the Auschwitz
inmates and we were ob-
liged to cover large dis-
tances on foot on our way to
smaller concentration
camps. Many could not
make it for- they were too
weak. Those who were un-
able to walk were shot by
the Germans.
"Then, we, the exhausted
survivors of the 'death
march,' were dispatched
westwards in open freight
cars in the middle of the
winter without provigions.
That was in January 1945.
When we were passing at
full speed through Czechos-
lovakia, I took my life into
my hands and jumped from
the train. That is why I am
here today."
Yom Hashoa Observances
(Continued from Page 1)
observances. S The organiza-
tion is also distributing
symbolic yellow Stars of
David to be worn at the ob-
servance.
Other Detroit area
synagogue observances will
be held Sunday at:
CONG. BETH ACHIM
— 11 a.m. — Joseph
Tekulsky, head of a New
York-based survivors group,
will speak and students of
the Beth Achim branch of
United Hebrew Schools will
sing and recite poetry.
ADAT SHALOM
SYNAGOGUE — 8 p.m. —
Geraldine Schwartz's can-
tata, "Night," will be ner-
i-
formed by the Oaklanc
versity Singers. The Db.- oit
Woodwind Quintet will also
perform. Cantor Larry Vie-
der will open the obser
with Maariv service,
Carol Rittner will speak on
"One Christian's Response
to the Holocaust."
Watercolors entitled "I
Can't Forget" by Sheryl Ro-
gers will be displayed.
CONG. BNAI MOSHE
— 8 p.m. — Holocaust sur-
vivor David Bergman will
speak, Cantor Louis Klein
will sing and Rabbi Stanley
Rosenbaum will lead a
memorial service.