The Chimneys of Auschwitz
(Thoughts about a possible visit – to an impossible place)**
How much satanic evil is contained in the word Auschwitz
How much power and strength there is in the metallic sound
Of this one word – Auschwitz
Oh Poland
The land of cursed names, the land of defiled names:
Auschwitz, Birkenau,
Meidanek, Chelmno, Treblinka…
How did the name of a small Polish village –Oświęcin
Become the monstrous Auschwitz,
The symbol of Nazi German destruction and cruelty.
Auschwitz, the source of all evil and devastation,
A land from another planet
And an abyss of infinite inhumanity.
The smoke from the chimneys of Auschwitz will never dissipate
And the sweetish smell of human smoke lingers in the air;
It is still in the air – even now – forever…
Oh my mother, Sdenka,
You are gripped strongly within this curse – this word
Burnt forever in the chimneys of smoke.
And your soul — which is my soul,
Hovers and dwells there,
Like a spirit over the abyss of oblivion
In the abyss of inhumanity.
Only the 614th commandment*:
"Do not give up hope"
And continue to work to achieve "Tikun Olam" ("Putting the world aright")
Is the lone consolation, a small consolation
Left open to me – left open to us
To us – To us all
Forever.
Yair, 26.10.07
* 614th commandment – follows the 613th commandment of the Halacha.
** The background is a photo of Crematorium III in Auschwitz.