Holocaust Poetry

Holocaust
by Barbara Sonek

We played, we laughed
we were loved.
We were ripped from the arms of our
parents and thrown into the fire.
We were nothing more than children.
We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We had dreams, then we had no hope. We were taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying, starving, dying. Separated from the world to be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea. This atrocity to mankind can not happen again. Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen away.

1. What is your initial reaction to this poem? My initial reaction to the post was wondering what was happened to the children that were taken and if they were killed...
2. How does the author use 'we' in this poem? The author of the poem uses "we" for more of an effect because we know what that it, possibly, happened to the author and it adds more of a dramatic affect.
3. What are the verbs used in the first sentence? The verbs that are used in the first sentence  is "Played", Laughed" and "loved" - These are all happy words
4. What are the verbs used in the second sentence? How do they contrast with those used in the first sentence? The Verbs used in the second sentence are "ripped" and thrown". The way that the verbs are contrasted in the first and second sentence is that the words "Played", Laughed" and "loved" are very happy words that make you feel good and you would be happy for them for you to do/ have done to you. Then the words "ripped" and "thrown" make you feel sand and angry and are not nice words that want to happen to you.
5. What effect does the listing of 'lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers'? What is it meant to signify? The effect of listing all these type of people gives the reader a sad feeling because we all have mothers and teachers. We also probably all know Lawyers, rabbis's and wives and then we find out that they die and that has a big affect on the reader. It also signify 's the roles of some of the Jews in Germany at that time
6. What simile is used in the poem and what effect does it have? the author is compairing jews and normal people and saying that they were insignificant to them
7. How has the poet represented herself in the last sentence?  She presents herself as one of those children that lost their lives to the Nazi army.
8. If you could communicate to this person, a victim of the Holocaust, what would you want to say? What do you feel that you must do in your life as a response to this poem? If i could communicate with a victim of the holocaust i would ask them what it was like for them all being locked up and knowing that you are going to die. and what some people tried to do to defend themselves or if some people did.