Sun Kissed Days

Sun Kissed Days

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Rachel's Story




The snow never melted that winter,
it didn't fall like powder.
It was harsh and unforgiving,
the way the days were.
Death was a companion,
stench was in the air.
The enemy left them to
freeze and die.
Five year old Rachel,
sat by the window.
The train brought them here,
like cattle.
The train brought them here to die.
Their lives left behind,
home a faint warm memory.
Rachel sat by the window,
she wondered if God had abandoned them.
She listened to news of others
freezing to death.
Their clothes traded for a bowl of food,
to survive another day,
to watch another sunrise.
The days bleak,
endless,
bitter cold.
Rachel watched every day a carriage
of dead bodies pass her by.
She didn't cry,
her heart pounding,
her mind racing.
Memories that she would carry
all her life.



I spent today with my aunt, she wanted to share some memories of the holocaust so I can write her story someday. My head and heart ache when I think of some of the things that my dad and her went through as children. This is for my aunt and for all the children of the holocaust. Please meet us here,
http://dversepoets.com/  where we share our thoughts and our hearts.

88 comments:

  1. Heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing.

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  2. oh ayala...this moved me to tears..so many children saw things that no one should ever see..very sensitively penned.. i think you walked that thin line remarkably well..kudos

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    1. Thank you, Claudia. So many sad stories....

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  3. holy shit- this was powerful. The lines about the trains passing every day full of bodies. Some horrible horrible things were witnessed during this time. To see this is best have been- I can't quite out it into words- but you have- so very well

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  4. Those were the dark and bleak days. I can't even bear watching this in the big screen as I know stories like these break my heart. This is a touching write...and documenting them would be good for our grandchildren and future generations ~

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    1. So important to remember..so it can never happen again and yet so many parts of the world today have horrors taking place and nothing is being done....

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  5. So many dark stories of the soul in that war--I guess in all wars--poignant write!

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  6. I'm so glad your aunt can talk about these dreadful things. It's amazing how people can love anymore when they've seen such horror. Growing up I always thought it would never happen again, it was so horrific and the world was outraged. And so when the Bosnia/Serb/Croatia wars erupted and soon after we saw half naked, starving men behind barbed razor wire. It reduced me to tears because I knew then that all of that suffering during the second world war was being allowed to happen all over again. The awful truth is, until such time as mankind sees beyond colour, faith, and money, war is inevitable.
    Deeply heart-felt.

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    1. Bren, she was telling me and crying and it broke my heart because the little girl within never healed.

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  7. It's unbelievable what people had to endure. The fact that they did is beyond incredible. Rachel breaks my heart. The line about God's abandonment just hurts, ayala. What remarkable women (your aunt and you) to share this...

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    1. Thank you, Talon. I appreciate your thoughts.

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  8. It really saddens me when I hear/read about things such as this. No child should have to endure such a horrible experience as Rachel did. Powerful piece!

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  9. vicious write ayala...after going through the holocaust museum and it affecting me as it did i can only imagine what it was like to live in it...and i m glad she tells it...maybe that way we will never forget as well....

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    1. Thank you, Brian. I was up in the middle of the night unable to sleep...I kept thinking of little details that i just could not conceive as anyone's reality.

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  10. Oh, this is potently tragic and expressed with rending clarity. I will hold a moment of silence in honor of the dead.

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  11. That had to be horrible, I can't even imagine, you tell it well though.

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  13. At war's end, I was old enough to read news, watch at the cinema, and understand what went on 'over there'. I did not understand why--and still don't. Greed and Power are not enough reason. Maybe FEAR? Fear of a people highly intelligent, resourceful, hard-working, with spiritual traditions of millennial proportions. God's 'chosen' Peeps!

    Blessings Ayala, and
    PEACE!

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    1. Steve, I don't think any of us understand .
      Peace.

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  14. thank you for this good deed!



    Warm Aloha from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral

    >< } } ( ° >

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  15. heart wrenching, heart breaking. so good of you to tell her stories, we need to listen, hear them, learn from them.

    how can we even begin to imagine what it was like?

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  16. This is so chilling. Last weekend, my husband and I had dinner with an older man, a Polish Jew, who survived the holocaust. He was blond, so his mother made him walk down the opposite side of the street from her. He watched as the Nazi's took his mother away and never saw her again. So much heartbreak and so much strength of characters among those who survived. I'm playing with idea for my next novel after that. Thank you for this one, Ayala.

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    1. Thank you, Victoria. And thank you for sharing your story. So many mothers wanted to save their children, glad your friend survived.

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  17. Bless you for being the historian/poet...lest we forget. A catharsis for your dear aunt, grist for your mill...tho so difficult to hear...and memories forever of the innocent, the children who had to bear this horror. Well penned and memorable.

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    1. Thank you, Jackie. I felt ill thinking about it and then I realized that it's a small thing compare to my dad and aunt living through it.

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  18. so much passion and depth... what a sweet niece you are

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  19. So effective and powerful. It's easy to forget that it was practically "yesterday." It's easy to say that things are different now, but it all depends where you look in the world...we still haven't figured out how to live and let live.

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    1. How true Steve...we still have not figured out how to live and let live-well said!!!!!!

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  20. Oh hon! This wrenched me! A beautiful write for such an event....never forgotten and this poem is stunningly thought out! xoxo

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  21. oh so powerful! your writings always touch me deep

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    1. Thank you, dear friend. Hope you are well.

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  22. your words are indeed touching, and for me your words resound becuz they are historical but also universal. cruelty continues in this world with efficiency. the strong will always dominate and desecrate the weak. injustice is very much alive. great write.

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    1. Ed, the crimes against humanity continue and it makes me sad and outraged that we can stand by and watch....

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  23. I felt my pulse race as I read, the repetition serving as an accelerant. Well done.

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  24. Oh dear little Rachel and the ones who had to live through and then with this all their lives.

    Yes, this made me cry.

    And to think there are some out there who will deny the holocaust ever happened -- to me that is the most chilling part of all.

    xoxo

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    1. Thank you, dear Jannie. And how insane is it that people still deny this...we need to look at what kind of people they are....
      xoxo

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  25. Violence most heinous inflicted by man to man. Sadly, these happened in all conflicts. Chilling memories!

    Hank

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  26. This is moving and heartfelt. It's like an experience that stays with you because of the emotional impact. Thank you for sharing

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  27. this is so chilling and well written, ayala. makes me want to cry. I am so glad you are honoring the victims (and survivors) in this way.

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  28. Powerful and heartbreaking, Ayala. May we learn from Rachel's stories going forward.

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    1. Thank you, Belinda. We have to learn and not let it happen again.

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  29. Oh, do write the story! You must write it. Begin very soon....all of these stories deserve to be preserved. Do it while your aunt is still alive and can know that you did what she wished you to do!! It would mean so much to her and to you.

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  30. Thank you info :)

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  31. Sad and very powerful. Incredible write, Ayala. ♥

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  32. i'm glad you write these things down, for them, and for us. it is good to never forget what happened...

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  33. It is almost hard to read and believe but so important to remind us. I'm not sure if God abandoned them as much as their fellow human beings. Trying to teach my boys that not enough not to take part in something have to speak up, have to try to change.

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    1. So hard to believe that humanity would allow it to happen..and I agree we must fight for any injustice and speak up.

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  34. Oh, Ayala that's a very powerful, moving poem. And what a gift for both of you to be able to write her story with/for her. And a gift for the rest your family and others to get to read it. That's a wonderful thing to do. (hug)

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    1. Thank you, Mary. It is a gift that I treasure.

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  35. i have thought of this poem several times since i read it earlier in the week. it's incredibly powerful. thanks for sharing the story of your family.

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    1. Thank you, Ed. It was Tuesday ..I spent the day with my aunt and her stories have stayed with me. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it. I am trying to honor the memory and share it...there is so much and it's so sad.

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  36. Unbelievably powerful. Thank you for sharing.

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  37. just wanted to say hello from NYC...smiles

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    1. Hi Claudia,
      welcome to the U.S
      I wish I was in N.Y to see you!

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  38. Very difficult subject to deal with so well done. I touched on the subject once

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    1. Thank you, John. Went to your poem and read it and remembered reading it in the past. Well done!

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  39. Just heartbreaking. A story that needs to keep being told - so glad your aunt has you to listen, record, share ... it matters.

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    1. Thank you, Adrienne. So glad that I have her to tell me...

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  40. She didn't cry. That brought tears to my eyes.

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  41. The emotion of this verse is very palpable. Heartbreaking indeed, but I am grateful that your aunt was willing to share this with you and appreciate your collective courage to write about this pain. Sending you and your aunt much love.

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  42. Ayala, you have such a way with words. Haunting sorrow here. Something no child should endure.

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  43. very tough. the dead bodies in the carriage especially

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