Yizkor
by Abba Kovner

Let us remember our brothers 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