Auschwitz, the kiss you
didn't have to take, lips eagerly pursed,
Inviting the Nazi
tongue to lick
You with gas.
Amongst the mass of
strangers you died,
Sacrificed.
Name almost forgotten,
because of your gender.
Left
.....................................................Right
Left Dumfries to end up
on your knees for a race forgotten.
'I have found my life's
work' your tune, but the world didn't dance.
No rest in Budapest as
you sewed stars of yellow
Onto your chosen
children.
Light of Scotland,
rejected the Church offering of safe return
Held tightly the hands
of those who yearned
Your protection,
Affection enough to lay
down your life.
'Even here on the road
to Heaven there is a mountain range to climb'
You whispered,
As you were gassed
With a mass of
Hungarian women
Such a German chore.
Left..................................................
Right
Left the world on
August 16th, 1944.
The only Scot to be
slain...martyred Jane.
Remembered only by a
sliver of Glasgow glass and plaque,
Yad Vashem, men
declared you 'Righteous' 55 years
After you'd died.
No libraries, films,
memorials, tutorials
Lest we forget St. Jane
And the day you were
crucified.
Elaine Pomeransky, Edinburgh, Scotland
2 comments:
Elaine is an Eastender, went to college to study drama, and then on to university to read philosophy at Exeter, also studied theology. Had surgery for a brain tumour and has been chronically ill since 1988.
Elaine says this about Jane Haining, the subject of the poem:
Jane Haining was born at Lochanead Farm near Dunscore, went to school in Dumfries and was a Church of Scotland missionary. She was sent to Hungary pre war to look after orphans, mostly Jewish girls. When the war broke out she refused to return to Scotland to safety as she wouldn't leave her Jewish wards and so died in Auschwitz. There is a Wikipedia page about Jane here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Haining
A powerful poem about a powerful subject, and touching to see someone like this remembered in tis way. I do like the Left......................Right device.
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