A Limerick of Lamentation
This is a fictional conversation between a fictional young Nazi and a fictional young Jew (I made them up entirely, they are not characters from one of the holocaust books I've read); both of whom share the same sentiments to the point of the following lines being interchangeable. That is, either of them could have said any of it, because they both felt it, stuck in the concentration camp. I know this would probably not describe most Nazis, but I just wondered if perhaps there were some who felt like prisoners pushed into their roles, who didn't want to be the baddies, and who didn't want to be there any more than their victims did. I wondered, what would it sound like if they could relate to each other? This is what I came up with.
____________________________________________________
"What in the hell are we doing here?"
"I don't know!" He replied with a tear.
"I'm here against my will, but I follow orders still."
"God help me! I obey out of fear."
~~~
"Back at home, Mom wanted me to stay,
but this awful place tore me away."
"Working fills me with dread; sometimes wish I were dead."
"Will me make it out alive one day?"
~~~
As a human, he looked in my eye.
Our mutual pain caused us to cry.
"When times get real bad, I miss my Mom and Dad."
Trying to smile, he said-- "So do I."
~~~
He's set up to be my enemy,
but we both really long to be free.
Through it all, in the end: I considered him-- Friend.
That'd stop wars-- if everyone would be.
Copyright © Michelle Smith | Year Posted 2023
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