Poetry by Maarif School USA Students
Maarif School USA
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Pam D’Amato, Principal
Read the 2020 Holocaust Workshop Student Poetry:
• Morristown High School, Morristown, New Jersey
• Kehilat Shalom, Belle Meade, New Jersey
• St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Edison, New Jersey
• Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough, New Jersey
The Woman to the Little Polish Boy I Saw
Juhayna Alkurdi
Grade 10 Age 15
I turned around and to my astonishment
I saw an honest little Polish boy
portraying the fear I had tried to hide
from my children as they cry
wondering why they can’t sleep
in their bed again tonight
why the country that used to be their home
is now just four empty walls
with its once decorated insides
being washed away
white-washed away. . .
I wish I knew the answers to their questions
maybe I did, but I never portrayed
the honesty your face had—
the fear, the innocence, the disappointment.
You were loud Polish boy
I don’t think you know how loud you were Polish boy
Your eyes screamed the innocence you deserved
And although, by only a few people were you heard
Your silence is the loudest
most unbearable curse.
To the Little Polish Boy
Taposhi Mohiuddin
Grade 8 Age 14
Why are your arms up?
Why do you have to be afraid?
What have you ever done?
Your people beside you
Yet you are receiving no protection
Why are your arms up?
Why do you have to be afraid?
Surrendering yourself to the Nazis
Standing in utter vulnerability
Why isn’t anyone holding you?
Why aren’t you sitting
in a warm room with love?
Why are your arms up?
Why do you have to be afraid,
Little Polish boy?
Innocence spread across your face,
Confused and distraught.
You don’t belong here, little Polish boy.
To the German Stallion
Tebyan Abugana
Grade 10 Age 15
You fine stallion,
Going where your master takes you
Being pampered and cherished for what you are told
Playing in the fields as a young colt,
Given good morals and decent judgment
Soon your mane is cut short, your hooves covered
In the blood of your kin
Your master demands more
and consumes your every living
being, corrupts your mind,
the mind of the stallion
now like a frail mule,
wanting the corruption to end.
At a glimpse you see a boy,
raising his small pale hands,
wearing a star on his chest
standing in the ghetto of a town.
So how do you feel now?
Once fine stallion.
The Innocent Lives
Zane Yazji
Grade 9 Age 15
Dear Nazi officer,
Have you not felt any
guilt by seeing millions
of innocent Jews die?
Do you not feel that
You are wrong for pointing
a gun at innocent children?
Millions die, meanwhile you
stand and watch
The clock ticks, more innocent lives
are taken.
Violence and oppression
is never the answer.
To the Nazi Soldiers
Tuana Ece Gezer
Grade 9 Age 14
Black and white cover the page
the expression on people’s faces
confusion and rage
all hope is lost
don’t the people know
how much is the cost
of people’s lives ruined and torn
won’t they ever stop?
won’t they see the faces worn
to suffer for your whole life
with the people’s blood on your mind
was it worth it for all those people to die?
Dear little Polish Boy
Elissa Abedrabbo
Grade 8 Age 13
I can’t explain the tragedy
that is happening to you
And I am truly sorry
I can’t think of the thoughts that
go on in your head at the last minute
and how at a young age
you are truly a brave strong boy
raising your hands up
in the center of your town.
I have no words. . .
but little Polish boy,
I am sorry.