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I think about the man I am going to marry
I think about my career
I think about my home
I think about children
And I think about children innocence, and their hopes and aspirations
I think about their free spirit and curiosity
Today, as I stood in a forrest in the middle of Krakow,
I thought about these children
Yet they are no longer with us
No longer with innocence, and hopes, and aspirations
No longer free spirits, no longer curious
They were not allowed the chance to be or to do
And the trees stood silent, but the stories roared
And the shofar roared
And the mothers roared
All louder than the gunshots
We are louder than gunshots
We are louder than ghettos, and concentration camps, and selections
We are louder. We are resilient. We are forever.
We are Jewish.
– Taylor Freeman
UPENN
Today, I stood in a gas chamber
And I didn’t cry
I saw the ovens
And I didn’t cry
I stood aside graves
And I didn’t cry
We sung next to 7 tons of ashes
And I didn’t cry
I don’t know why I didn’t
I hear large numbers: 6 million Jews, 870,000 at Treblinka, 18,000 in one day at Majdanek
I think comprehension is impossible
When numbers are no longer statistics
But mothers gone, and children separated, and cousins shot dead, and neighbors gassed
And I don’t think I will ever understand
But I think later
I will weep
– Taylor Freeman
UPENN