The Loewenstein Family: A Story of Survival

This poem written by Thekla Stoll in June 1942 was circulated among Germany's remaining Jews toward the end of the War. The poem is a testament to the Jewish people's spirit in the face of Nazi brutality.

 

Today I saw 1,000 disturbed people.

Today I saw 1,000 Jews, wandering into oblivion,

Into the grey of the cold morning drew the condemned

Leaving behind what once was their life.

 

They stepped through the gates, glancing back,

As they left everything outside, their homeland, their belongings and their happiness,

Where will you be led, where ends your path?

They only know this: The destination is called barbed wire!

 

And what awaits you is misery, torture and distress,

Suffering, hunger, disease; for many soon-to-follow: death.

I search your eyes with a brother’s look

Expecting deepest grief in this misfortune.

 

Instead of despair one sees a deep, deep strength.

And bearing and composure glows in their eyes

One sees a burning will to live, sees faith and courage

And sees in some faces a smile, strong and good.

 

I am strongly moved to recognize the spirit of the people,

Selected for suffering that will be overcome,

That lifts itself out of misery and need, banishment, forced labor

And imprisonment, with unbroken strength.

 

Today I saw 1,000 people with disturbed faces,

And saw in the grey of the morning the rays of everlasting light!

Translated by Henry Lowenstein

 

Thekla Stoll was deported to Auschwitz 3 Mar 1943