Ordinary Lives

David Rosenfield
From:   Journey a work in progress

Even in the camps
some Jews marked the Sabbath
Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur
were observed
Incredible as it may seem
even in the last days
of the final solution
some Jews in both the labour and the death camps
were able to conduct a kind of seder
during Passover
The festivals of Purim, Hanukkah
and Sukkot
"in the midst of sorrow
the holiday of joy"
all were celebrated
It is recorded
that a succah was built
secretly, in the camp at Plaszow
also even at Auschwitz
in the very "jaws of the lion"
At Buchenwald
one night recalling the saying
"When the month of Adair comes,
joy is increased
the inmate Yaakov Frankel
after days spent
gathering up all sorts
of scraps of paper
decided to write the story
of Esther upon them —
from memory

Poem 1 | Poem 2 | Poem 3 | Poem 4 | Poem 5 | Poem 6

David Rosenfield's works copyright © to the author.