Treblinka*
Holocaust Memorial Day – 27th January 2012
…and then daylight,
and we were off the stinking trains,
with their smell of freshly salted meat,
and onto the platform,
and I was grateful, in a strange way,
for its solidness, rising, like faith,
to meet our feet as we stepped off;
And I was holding onto Papa’s leg,
his hand, backed with its soft black hairs,
was resting on my shoulder,
and I felt hopeful, in a strange way,
to see the departures board: an itinerary,
a list of stopping-off points
to some kind of future;
And there was a clock
that told the right time, and sky,
and a sign that said “Treblinka”,
and I read it, and I marvelled
at how we could read shapes into letters,
into words, into meaning into usefulness,
and it felt so clever to be human;
And one of the men,
who had come to carry our luggage,
whispered to Papa: “Tell them you’re a builder”,
and I said: How ridiculous – Papa’s a teacher!
and I felt such admiration, in a strange way,
for the architects, in their office, with their ties
and their blueprints, planning this outcrop
of civilisation in such a desolate place.
And then I smelled burning, – I hadn’t
noticed before, and there were gunshots
and Papa looked down and smiled
sort of sadly, “Birds. They’re shooting birds”,
and I felt so frightened, in a strange way,
but Papa was holding onto my hand, now
gripping it so tightly, and I was thinking:
“Yes… yes, everything’s going to be okay.”
*More information about the Treblinka extermination camp, including a description of the fake railway station, can be found here: Wikipedia: Treblinka
