For most of us,
Yiddish
Was our mother tongue,
The blend of Hebrew and German,
Rolled in our mouths,
Like sweets on Rosh Hashanah.
I could understand
Most of the Germans.
Enough to do as I was told.
But some spoke dialects
Too rough upon
My ears.
I also spoke Polish
And a little Russian,
Since Mama and Papa
Had spoken it
In the house
When I was young.
Zlatka also spoke
Yiddish,
Polish,
And Russian,
Much better than I,
And understood German.
With almost everyone
In the camp.
Except the French girls
Eva
Hélène
Only spoke French.
Still,
A smile,
A frown,
Tears,
And laughter
Were understood in any language.