Connor+C

Connor Chapman

identity, faith
 * Branded**

March 19, 1944 Yellow star Forced exodus What is going on?

Three transports a day with thousands of people Auschwitz Forced labor Halt, Jew!

Something is wrong with me My mind is going Totally unreal Destruction

I am a filthy Jew I'm so tired and cold.. Worthless Jew! Waah! I'm hungry!

And those that are taken away They're never seen again NO! I won't go to their gas chambers! And my children will not go to their gas chambers

They didn't even let us die when we wanted Where is God? Why did God spare me? God is where you have your strength

The inhumanity of man against man is beyond belief I wasn't young anymore I was very old I was 16, but I was very old

Rationale: I wrote my poem from the perspective of a Hungarian Jew being forced from his homeland and taken to a concentration camp. In the early stanzas, I describe the confusion that they felt at this time. As the poem progresses, the Hungarian Jew realizes that he is here because of his religion. Once he realizes what is happening to his people, he becomes determined to survive. The last two stanzas describe how he felt after he left the camp and during the rest of his life. He asks himself why God spared him and not the 6 million other Jews that were killed. However, he realizes that his faith is what ultimately helped him to survive. His experiences at the camp took away his innocence and ended his childhood abruptly, explaining why he describes himself as an old man at a young age.