Yizkor

                        by Abba Kovner

Let us remember our brother and our sisters

the homes in the cities and houses in the villages

The streets of the town that bustled like rivers

And the inn standing solitary on the way.

The old man with his etched-out features

The mother in her sweater

The girl with the plaits

And the children.

The thousands of communities of Israel with their families

The whole Jewish people

That was brought to the slaughter on the soil

of Europe by the German destroyer.

The man who screamed out suddenly and died while screaming

The woman who clutched her baby to her breast and whose arms tumbled down.

The baby whose fingers groped for her mother's

nipple which was blue and cold

The legs, the legs that sought refuge

and there was no escape.

And those who clenched their hands into fists

The fist that gripped the steel

The steel that was the weapon of the vision

the despair and the revolt.

And those with staunch hearts and those with open eyes

And those who sacrificed themselves without

being able to save others.

We shall remember the day

The day in its noon, the sun

That rose over the stake of blood

The skies that stood high and silent

We shall remember the mounds of ash

beneath flowering parks.

Let the living remember his dead for

behold they are here

Before us

Behold their eyes cast around and about.

So let us not rest

May our lives be worthy of their memory.
 
 

Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority

Back to Holocaust contents.

Back to main contents.