I was sent to
The prison in Łomża,
Held with other Jewish girls
Rounded up from areas
Supposedly Judenfrei.
Seven of us
Jammed in a cell
Big enough for one.
A girl with blond braids
And a gold cross
Got down on her knees,
Crossed herself,
And swore to God
She was not a Jew.
No one listened
Not even God.
Days spent in
A cramped cell,
No room to lie down,
No information,
No food.
Worries for my family
Chewed at my heart,
Mice in the corners
Of the cell.
Białystok ghetto
Was liquidated,
Emptied,
Destroyed,
Burned.
Most had done as they were told,
Climbed onto trains.
Others had fought.
Mama,
Papa,
Mushke
Would not have fought.
Leybl?
What would my brother have done?
I prayed
He’d climbed on a train.
The rumors claimed
No one survived
The uprising.