I wrote this poem based on how I pictured the journal entry written by Charles V. Ferree. With great detail he explained how horrid and emotional liberation for all those Jews was. In my poem I tried my best to capture what Charles witnessed, and how i think he would’ve felt. Attempting to put how I would have felt in to my work.

(In this image you can see that the Jews have been released, and are celebrating their forever freedom!)

 

I heard about what happened,

and decided to go help.

I packed my bags,

put on my coat,

and decided to head straight out.

We could not land at first,

but then it was all clear.

We hopped into the jeep

hoping we were near.

It took us to that place,

and I will never forget his face.

The one who with his buddies was clubbing at the guards.

All that went through my head was “wow we let this go too far.”

It was not just the Germans,

but us as watchers too,

treating those men as if they were caged animals in a zoo.

I remember all the bodies,

stacked up to 5 feet tall.

It seemed as though there was enough,

to build a 10-foot wall.

Those Jews were laying lifeless,

the Germans now were too.

The last thing I heard one say was “this is because of you, you stupid Jew.”

Finally, liberation for all these poor men.

I pray one day they have a family,

and have a dog they could call Ben.

Some say it never happened,

that it is all a big fat lie.

To that I say,

go tell it to the ones who lost their lives.

 

Image Source: https://furtherglory.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/the-liberation-of-mauthausen-may-5-1945/