The Gates of Dachau stand open
with an inscription for all to see
a dark and cruel token
"work sets you free"
Can you hear the ghostly echoes
of pitiful sobs and screams?
ringing across the ghettos
amongst the fields of green
See those dreadful towers
whence the wolves keep watch on sheep
that toil amongst the flowers
digging graves six feet deep
Feel the ground tremble
as the jackboots come marching
see the hopes crumble
when the death's heads come charging
The Gates of Dachau stand open
yawning darkness lies within
where many lives are broken
in this pit of despair and sin
Watch as families are torn apart
husband from wife, mother from child
genocide perfected to an art
in this place most defiled
Behold the silent progression
as the bakers are led to the oven
their only crime is their yarmulke
victims of an unholy coven
Behold the silent audience
that witness this circus of death
their only crime is their silence
as humanity takes its dying breath
The Gates of Dachau stand open
its walls a monument to infâme
where never a word was spoken
and heads now hang in shame
This is one of the finest
This is one of the finest poems about the genocide that I have ever read!
J-Called