Suffering is all I knew,
The soldiers marching through the streets
Each battalion larger than before
Kitty is in danger, along with her kind

A knock on the door knock, knock, knock
My loved ones are in danger,
My feelings alienated
Towards the cruel dictatorship

The door opened with a creak,
My mother hid behind the couch,
My father grabbed the blade,
Sunlight gleaming on its surface



The soldiers step in
I’m behind an overturned table
I hear a bang, two more
A women’s scream, a manly yell

My father and mother were gone.
The soldiers had murdered,
Destroyed the last of my joy
Taken away my pride

I ran away, over to the library
Kitty hid behind the shelf
I was not religious but I still wore the star
I was not the same so they searched for my head





I dyed my hair up to standard,
Put in colored contacts
I went outside and ran away
The soldier catching up to me

“I plead for it to stop,
The tormenting conflict.
I plead for peace,
An end to this hate.

I plead for something new.
I plead for life.
I plead for freedom.
I plead for change.”





My family divided due to death,
I stayed with the locals.
Nearly everyone was religious
In this ethnic neighborhood.

An officer came to my door
And asked for the Jews
Asked whether they were living
In the house next door.

I couldn’t do it,
I couldn’t reveal
To the soldier who waited
For the answer to appear





The survivors of the war,
They destroyed the hate,
I followed their lead,
And pushed away the horror

The memories torture me.
The memories destroy me.
The memories hurt me.
The memories sicken me.

But the liberators came
Their flag red with a sickle
Their big metal beasts
Tearing up the streets.





I risked my life because of this hope,
The hope that my family would survive.
I have lost all of it,
Because of this treachery.

I learned about the Bolsheviks,
How they liberated Russia
How they created the Soviets
And destroyed the Germans.

I did the right thing, I think
But I lost all of my friends
I live now with pain and torture
In Warsaw. Suffering.