The Lesson
See my face, see my fear
knowing death is very near.
Iām but a child without defense,
this evil world makes no more sense
At 14 years my life should be
filled with love and gaiety,
but through my eyes I have to see
such Godforsaken misery
When human kindness disappears
and all thatās left is pain and tears,
when conscience has a home no more
and cruelty rules in times of war
Then man is lost and all is gone.
For me Iāll never see the dawn,
no longer watch humanity
destroy the children just like me.
Are there no lessons to be learned?
Is no one just a bit concerned?
That now in peace we still forget
that mankind isnāt quite there yet
We see a stranger not like us,
in arrogance we make no fuss
when treated with such disregard
our answer is to beat them hard
Each single life is worth the same
Our difference Ā never is not to blame
We grew together from one seed
Should come together Ā in times of need
The lessons we can learn we must.
No matter who - we must be just.
Letās never be like this again
Or else my death will be in vain.
AuthorsĀ noteā¦ā¦ā¦Czeslawa Kwoka Polish Catholic, 14 years old.
Died in Auschwitz extermination camp on February 18, 1943 with a phenol injection in her heart. Shortly before the execution, she was photographed by a prisoner Whilem Brasse, who testified against her executioner, a woman who, before the photo, hit her face, as shown by the haematoma on her lip. All we see is the face of a terrified child, who didn't even speak their language and who lost her mother a few days before. She was one of about 250.000 children executed in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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Comments
What can I say Lodi? The sadness on this childs face is haunting and I am so pleased that you have made her visible and with such a strong message..of people mattering!Ā No matter what we seem to go through on this planet we can't seem to find it in us to love one another as we should..we love everything else,Ā money, power, freedom, but the simplest of these is Love and we seem to have forgotten how to do that one thing.Thank you for reminding us of the lesson we should all be learning. A truly great piece thank you.
Thank you so much StevieC Means a lot! xx
āMans inhumanity to man.ā They call it inhumanity, unfortunately this is the humanity.
It is probably the greatest oxymoron in existence isn't it? The depth of sadness it brings me is unfathomable....but I guess we should never stopĀ trying to change things John..Really appreciate your valued words my friend. Lodigiana x
Your poem is brilliant. It brings tears to the eyes. And then reading the actual account of this poor girl...well, it made my blood run cold. I am speechless. The horror of it. We know it happened, of course, and we deplore the depravity of it but omg...this poem and picture AND account just really hits home. How the hell anyone could do that to any one, let alone a child, makes my brain hurt.
Fast forward over seventy years and the world still sees atrocities committed. To humans of all ages and to animals. The defenceless are just that, defenceless. Why, oh why is this world so cruel?Ā
Amazing writing x
Thank you my lovely. Sometimes words cant really express the horror of what some people have to go through..and that has gone on through the centuries..I always hope that we become more civilised, caring and better people with each new generation..in some quarters it is working and people are slowly waking up to injustice, cruelty and separatism but it all takes so much time and whilst we wait for better days..people are still being hurt...Thank you so much for your comments which really do resonate with me also..Really appreciate it.Ā
Lodigiana x
What a horrible horrifyingly evil murders of children, you tell us this chilling story, such a beautiful child how could they have the heart to kill so many children?? Why were they killed???
Thanks for remembering them. Kudos!
Wow that's amazing. That's a face I know well I've read up on all things ww2 for almost 2 decades especially the holocaust. It began because my grandfather was in raf in ww2 but never spoke of itĀ until days before his death. Such horror is unimaginable but true. Amazing write.Ā
Ian MorganĀ
Thank you so much Ian. This child's face is one none of us should forget as it speaks of the cruelty man can inflict on man....It would be wonderful if we never had to write about such horrors butĀ I dont think mankind is there yet so all we can do is try to remember and try never to do it again. I really appreciate you reading and commenting-Thank you . Lodigiana x
Ā Lodigiana, I know of this and it gets me every time, know of this child's death and her recent anniversary among many more.
So many more who should have went on and become to become doctors ,nurses, writers, poets, husbands and wives.
A future wiped out a future of what could have been and the good that each one could have offered and shared in. Alas, no.
Thank you for not forgetting about this child or the myriad of so many more victims who who were murdered and lost to us.
Ā