Buchenwald survivors Ilona and Henia Karmel were seventeen and twenty years old when they entered the Nazi labor camps from the Krak?w ghetto. These remarkable poems were written during that time. The sisters wrote the poems on worksheets stolen from the factories where they worked by day and hid them in their clothing. During what she thought were the last days of her life, Henia entrusted the poems to a cousin who happened to pass her in the forced march at the end of the war. The cousin gave them to Henia's husband in Krak?w, who would not locate and reunite with his wife for another six months. This is the first English publication of these extraordinary poems. Fanny Howe's deft adaptations preserve their freshness and innocence while making them entirely compelling. They are presented with a biographical introduction that conveys the powerful story of the sisters' survival from capture to freedom in 1946.
Author(s): Henia Karmel, Ilona Karmel
Edition: 1
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 158
Contents
......Page 10
Illustrations......Page 14
Preface......Page 16
Acknowledgments......Page 18
Introduction......Page 20
Autobiography: Childhood......Page 42
The March of the Fifteen-Year-Old Boys......Page 46
Us......Page 48
Procession......Page 49
The Land of Germany......Page 50
German Uniform Mania......Page 51
Pursuit at Night......Page 52
To a Friend from a Strange Planet......Page 54
Fatherland......Page 57
The Day Will Come......Page 59
A Night among Frenchwomen......Page 61
The Mark on the Wall......Page 65
Snapshots......Page 66
On Learning of the Latest Transport......Page 69
The Days of Vengeance......Page 70
Flight for Life......Page 71
The Origin of a Poem......Page 73
Terrifying Laughter......Page 74
Our Blood......Page 75
Time......Page 76
Strange Poem......Page 78
A Child's Vision of Peace......Page 79
My Life......Page 81
Verses......Page 82
An Answer......Page 83
The Demand......Page 84
The Abscess......Page 85
To Our Professors......Page 86
Prison Nights......Page 88
Harmonica......Page 89
Fear in the Barracks......Page 90
When You Find Out......Page 92
Encounter......Page 93
Two Machines......Page 94
Christ Lonely......Page 95
To the Rhythm of a Very Fast Waltz......Page 97
The Robots......Page 99
Bread......Page 101
Pears......Page 102
Waiting......Page 103
The Gallows......Page 104
An Army in Retreat......Page 106
Anniversaries......Page 107
Memory: Skarzysko......Page 108
To the German People......Page 109
At Laban's Grave......Page 111
Meditation in an Air Raid Shelter......Page 112
My Language......Page 113
Movie......Page 114
The Converts......Page 116
The Bastard......Page 117
To My Hungarian Brothers......Page 119
No One Is Calling......Page 120
And My Songs......Page 121
To Jews Abroad......Page 122
My Freedom......Page 124
Letter from the Hospital......Page 125
Second Letter......Page 127
Purim 1946......Page 129
Autobiography: Youth......Page 131
An Open Letter to Julian Tuwim-1947......Page 135
Afterword by Leon Wolfe......Page 144
Notes on the Translations......Page 146
About the Translators......Page 154
Bibliography......Page 156
Acknowledgments of Permissions......Page 158
