I was a victim of the Holocaust
Although I never fell within its grasp.
I knew how terror felt, and to be lost;
I felt the furnace flames, and my last gasp.

A child I was, but traumatized with fear,
I looked about for some way to survive.
I knew such cruelty must reappear,
And sought some strategy to stay alive.

If I were brilliant as a scientist
I had a chance to be one of the few
Whose fame might cheat the executioner’s list
When hatred rose again against the Jew.

How childish was my thinking -- now I know
That I must fight the hate -- before the blow.

Copyright (2008) by Arnold Cantor.
All rights reserved.

[Written March 18-19, 2007 before reading Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, for the first time.]