Arbeit macht frei,
their words of hope,
the entrance to many a death.
The iron gates bared
these words for them to read,
"work brings freedom".
What they never knew.
A 'welcome' sign to places such as
Auschwitz,
Sachsenhausen,
and Terezin to name a few.
Irony at the hands of the Nazis.
Instilling false hope to all who passed
the iron claws of death.
Auschwitz, divided into three camps; I, the main headquarters, II, Birkenau, the extermination camp, and III, Monowitz, the labor camps. Between the three camps, more than 1.6 million people, mostly Jews and gypsies, were put to death/died after passing under those iron-clad words.
Saschenhausen, the concentration camp located just at the edge of Berlin and the main base unit for all other concentration camps under the Nazi reign. Approximately 200,000 people passed that fateful sign, and an average of 100,000 of them died by firing squad, gas chamber, starvation, and disease; primarily Russian POWs.
Theresienstadt, also known as Terezin, established by the Gestapo in what is now the Czech Republic. The Gestapo took control of the Fortress of Terezin for it's evil plots on June 10, 1940. From the outside, the fortress was presented as a model Jewish settlemet, but fronted for the operation of Jewish extermination. The Gestapo run facility housed more than 15,000 Jewish people in a community with room for only around 7,000. Children were spared here, for a time, allowed to continue with education and made to work. Until their families were transported for 'sonder behandlung' or gassing without selection; where most were shipped off to Auschwitz, once again, passing under those fated words of irony.
Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp and model for all subsequent camps. Again 200,000 people from more than 30 countries passed under those words of hope. An estimated 30,000 people were killed here, with thousands more dying of starvation and disease. Among the prisoners of Dachau, were at least 3000 religious deacons, priests, and bishops.
This, just to name a few, hells that held those words that so many saw hope in. Those three words, Arbeit macht frie, speaking that your hard work would free you, was the last angel many ever saw.
Author notes
The words that spoke to the many who passed the gates of these camps. The words that many believed in, before dying at the hands of a monster.
This may not be what you are looking for at all, but it is what hit me at the moment. I have a relative who was a Hungarian citizen but a spy for the US troops. To this day, she has a bullet lodged in her spine from being shot, this after torture as a sex slave for the Nazis. It is quite fascinating, but creepy, to listen to her stories amidst her flashbacks.
Written September 16th, 2006
In a list
A contest entry
- Closed 5 by interruptedangel15.
400 points, ended September 16, 2006, 5 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 12 of 12
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Thank you Jay. It hurt to write this out, just for the concept. But it is a reality, one that many don't realize.
Storm -
Damn girl, this is deep. A stark reality when presented with those numbers. It's hard to understand so much of what went on, and then to see how you took those words of hope, I assume as so many of them had, and make them the reality that they were. Excellent.
-Jay -
Thank you Vickie, really appreciate your comment.
Storm -
Wow Autumn, this is quite deep. Historical and shows much depth. A sad tale though. But this is written very well. Nice display.
My love to you
Vickie -
Thank you for your comments, much appreciated.
Storm -
This informative write pays honour to those that died,we should remember lest we forget.
Your poor relative in Hungary has my blessing,little to nothing was known about PTSD then but many have lived with it,untreated,for years coping with flashbacks that they wish had not been an event in the first place.
God bless them all,those that died and those that survived. -
Thank you John. This was actually hard to write, emotions kind of step up to the plate while recounting the horrors that took place. Appreciate your comments.
Storm -
Thank you for the comments, much appreciated. And yes, it is sad.
Storm -
Outstanding
This is a fantastic bit of work, you have done an amazing job here, both in flow and form and cotent, you should be proud of yourself as this is great, Love John -
once again bravo your way with words is amazing interruptedangel15 is rite its like a history lesson and i felt so bad for all the people like 1.6 million died thats horrible and there might of been more thats just sad well this was an amazing write good luck in the contest i hope you win!!!
*skye* -
Thank you for your comments. I had written this whole long poem completely about the history of Auschwitz and my computer crashed. Kind of glad it did, this one seems more powerful to me. The fate of many by the sight of those three words. Appreciate your comment.
Storm -
This is exactly what I'm looking for. You put so much passion into this piece and gave a bit of a history lesson. It all flows together though. I have read some Holocaust poems where people where being racist, and it just makes me sick. How can you hate a whole race? I am sorry to hear about your relative. You are a veyr talented writer. Thank you for entering this contest.
Audrey Rose
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