Holocaust Poetry

Holocaust
by Barbara Sonek

We played, we laughed
we were loved.
We were ripped from the arms of our
parents and thrown into the fire.
We were nothing more than children.
We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We had dreams, then we had no hope. We were taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying, starving, dying. Separated from the world to be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea. This atrocity to mankind can not happen again. Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen away.


    1. What is your initial reaction to this poem?

It's horrifying. Children where taken away from their families and brutally murdered. Anyone who can't see the evil in that might as well be shot.

    2. How does the author use 'we' in this poem?

The author uses 'we' as if she herself was one of the children, giving her a connection to the slaughter going on under peoples noses. Includes all the Jews (collective Pronoun). Repetition (Emphasises the 'we').

    3. What are the verbs used in the first sentence?

Played, laughed, loved.

    4. What are the verbs used in the second sentence? How do they contrast with those used in the first sentence?

Ripped, thrown. To play, laugh and love is to be a child. If you tear them away from there families and burn them it is one of the worst crimes you can commit. To rip and through is to portray those actions. Sentence 1 is positive, sentence 2 is negative. Juxtaposition.

    5. What effect does the listing of 'lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers'? What is it meant to signify?

It makes you visualise what they could have been, giving more connection to the children. It is meant to signify the futures that could have been. Diversity of the children. All occupations help others. Forced not to do what they want.

    6. What simile is used in the poem and what effect does it have?

Like cattle. It gives the affect that the Germans thought of them as no more than animals and also the vast quantities of the children killed. Alliteration.

    7. How has the poet represented herself in the last sentence?

A child whose dream and life where stolen away. 1st person view of the situation. 'Remember us' is assertive.
    8. If you could communicate to this person, a victim of the Holocaust, what would you want to say? What do you feel that you must do in your life as a response to this poem?
I would want to apologise for all the wrongs that the Nazi's did, even though it wouldn't mean much I would try to repay them by helping other children around the world. Don't give up dreams. Not be racist as the Jews where victims of racism.