Questions

The following poem was written for an 8th grade school assignment in a Wisconsin public school where the students had been studying about the Holocaust. This poem is about a Jewish girl in an internment camp.

Death surrounds me
In a relentless grip.
There is no way out.
Freedom is my only wish.

Why am I here?
What have I done?
I am but a child,
My life’s just begun.

The one thing that haunts me
And keeps me in dread
Is will tomorrow come
Or will I be dead?

Maybe if I’m dead,
I won’t have to suffer.
This place already consumed
My father and brother.

Who can judge my life
And condemn me to death?
I wonder, will my voice be heard
After my final breath?

Will people know what happened?
Will they realize our fate?
Look what damage has been done
Because of one person’s petty hate.

What kind of soul
Can throw away an innocent life?
My future is now all gone.
It just doesn’t seem right.

How can this murderous rampage
Possibly be justified?
With only myself to console me,
I lift my head and cry.