Holocaust Poetry
- Elegy: a poem lamenting the death of an individual.
- Holocaust Elegy: a lament for the six million people killed in the Holocaust.
- Concrete Poem: The graphic shape or pattern of the poem conveys the meaning, effect, etc. of the poem.
- Enjambment: the continuation of a sentence or clause over a line-break. If a poet allows all the sentences of a poem to end in the same place as regular line-breaks, a kind of deadening can happen in the ear, and in the brain too, as all the thoughts can end up being the same length. Enjambment creates audible interest.
- Juxtaposition: placing unrelated ideas side by side, leaving it up to the reader to establish connections and impose a meaning.
“Blue” by William Heyen
- Concrete poem: What is the shape of this poem?
- How does enjambment enhance his message?
- This poem, in a way, embodies the children who were killed in Auschwitz. Explain.
- Notice all of the images that are signified as blue. How does this create juxtaposition?
- How does “the blue sky” connect the poem to human existence?
- “To witness”—what does it mean to witness something? Does a witness have a responsibility?
- Who do you think is the “you” (your) of the poem?
- To write a text is to oppose the silence. What does this mean?
“The Six Million” by Naomi Replanski
Naomi Replanski was a Russian Jew.
- Examine the structures of the poem:
- Number of stanzas?
- Repetition?
- Rhyme Scheme?
- What questions does she raise in the poem?
Handout: (with responses) Equity and Ethics_The Elegy
“First They Came” by Martin Niemöller
(prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor)
In Germany they came first for the
Communists, and I didn’t speak up
because I wasn’t a Communist. Then
they came for the Jews, and I didn’t
speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade
unionists, and I didn’t speak up
because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a
Protestant. Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to
speak up.
- What is the message of this poem?
- Read the information about the author. What does this show us about the importance of the poem?
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