a Holocaust Remembrance Day
From this site:
"We were first told to undress - clothes on one side, shoes on other - then we entered the room, naked as the day of our birth. It was here that we were given a number and heard the Konzentrationlagerfuehrer [Concentration Camp Commandant] say: 'From this day forth, you are all numbers. You no longer have names. You have no identities. You have no nationalities. All you have is your number, and besides your number, you have nothing at all."
Excerpt from the diary of Jacob, 17
Unto Every Person There is a Name
Unto Every Person There is a Name
Unto every person there is a name
bestowed on him by God
and given to him by his parents.
Unto every person there is a name
accorded him by his stature
and type of smile
and style of dress.
Unto every person there is a name
conferred by the mountains
and the walls which surround him.
Unto every person there is a name
granted him by Fortune's wheel
or that which neighbors call him.
Unto every person there is a name
assigned him by his failings
or contributed by his yearnings.
Unto every person there is a name
given to him by his enemies
or by his love.
Unto every person there is a name
derived from his celebrations
and his occupation.
Unto every person there is a name
presented him by the seasons
and his blindness.
Unto every person there is a name
which he receives from the sea
and is given to him by his death.
by Zelda Schneersohn Mishkovsky (1914-1984)
Seven poems by Zelda.
"We were first told to undress - clothes on one side, shoes on other - then we entered the room, naked as the day of our birth. It was here that we were given a number and heard the Konzentrationlagerfuehrer [Concentration Camp Commandant] say: 'From this day forth, you are all numbers. You no longer have names. You have no identities. You have no nationalities. All you have is your number, and besides your number, you have nothing at all."
Excerpt from the diary of Jacob, 17
Unto Every Person There is a Name
Unto Every Person There is a Name
Unto every person there is a name
bestowed on him by God
and given to him by his parents.
Unto every person there is a name
accorded him by his stature
and type of smile
and style of dress.
Unto every person there is a name
conferred by the mountains
and the walls which surround him.
Unto every person there is a name
granted him by Fortune's wheel
or that which neighbors call him.
Unto every person there is a name
assigned him by his failings
or contributed by his yearnings.
Unto every person there is a name
given to him by his enemies
or by his love.
Unto every person there is a name
derived from his celebrations
and his occupation.
Unto every person there is a name
presented him by the seasons
and his blindness.
Unto every person there is a name
which he receives from the sea
and is given to him by his death.
by Zelda Schneersohn Mishkovsky (1914-1984)
Seven poems by Zelda.