Auschwitz
State Museum in Oswiecim
Poland
1
For five long years the name of Auschwitz aroused fear among the populations of the Nazi occupied territories.
It was established in 1940 for the Polish political prisoners. Originally it was to be an instrument of terror and
extermination of Poles. As time passed, the Nazis began to deport to the camp people from all over Europe,
mainly Jews - citizens of various countries. Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsies, Czechs, Yugoslavians, Frenchmen,
Austrians, Germans and others were also among the prisoners of Auschwitz. Polish political prisoners were being
deported here till the camp ceased to exist.
Market Square (1), Krakow, Poland
Market Square (2), Krakow, Poland
Wieliczka Salt Mines, Krakow (1), Poland
Wieliczka Salt Mines, Krakow (2), Poland
Wawel Castle and Cathedral, Krakow (1), Poland
Wawel Castle and Cathedral, Krakow (2), Poland
Auschwitz The Official Web Site
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A Picture Of Auschwitz
I gaze at a painting hung on a wall
Staring, staring I begin to fall
Into a dream or is it for real
I am transported to this place I feel
A large open gate at the end of a track
The rails are all rust
The trains won't be back
Standing and staring in a harsh winter's snow
I am the lucky one I can just go
But deep inside me a fire it rages
A passion, an urging to open these pages
And beyond this gate and into the past
I join the picture that has been cast
Upon my mind and deeper still
Horrible memories emerging at will
And the wind that is cutting like a sharpened blade
Adds to the visions that don't want to fade
Faces that haunt me and faces that can't smile
They don't have a future, their lives futile
Faces of anger as they yell out abuse
Do this or die but you will never be loose
Buildings and monuments all grey they do seem
Behind the closed doors death is unseen
Disgusting odours a stench in the air
Wafts in the stillness, the burning of the dead
On to the huts how dirty they look
To some sort of chamber it's use mistook
Air type doors and no way out
Screams of torment I know what it's about
It's bitter cold as I wait my turn
In a Little Wood I wait my burn
Amongst the hordes a hush can be heard
An alarming silence not even a bird
Death to be hidden by a branching fence
But no barrier hides what goes on hence
Beyond the border and past the trees
Innocents are kneeling, prayers on their knees
Blue and grey and black peaked caps
Deal out their orders and release their wrath
More screams of fear, death and the dead
From toxic agents, illness and dread
Please let me wake up I would now like to go
Away from this evil I will never know
And let me pray for those innocent souls
Whose lives were so short, never met any goals
That they had planned before this unjust cause
A fitting reminder they call The Holocaust.
Arbeit Macht Frei
©Dominic Campbell
November 2002
www.poetrypoem.com/dominiccampbell
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