Somehow, today’s Friday Fictioneers story got posted on my Bible Study page. I’ve reblogged it to its appropriate place, but decided to leave it there as well. We need to remember. We like to say, “Never Again!” But it could happen again. The hearts of mankind don’t change from one generation to the next.
Shlomo, bent and frail, watched as busloads of tourists filed under the Arbeit Macht Frei gateway. Loaded with water bottles–which made Shlomo smile –and cameras, they gazed with intense curiosity, as if they expected to see ghosts. Most became very quiet.
There wasn’t even any birdsong, as if nature itself revered the spirits of those who had suffered there.
Shlomo, aided by a grandson on each side, walked away from the tourists toward the barracks that he knew best. Wordless, he and his grandsons stood and gazed into the interior.
Wordless, they walked away.
Chilling. You created the dread of the original with your few words. Well done.
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Thanks very much. I don’t usually have to cut out so many words, but I was over 200 on my first draft. Always surprises me how, once the fat is gone, the story still makes sense 🙂
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I know..This one is powerful.
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WordPress has a mind of its own at times!
A great forboding little tale. Love your choice of names too, so original and fun.
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Thanks, Mason.
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The wordlessness is eloquent. You’ve relied on what the reader already knows
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Yes, exactly. Anyone who has never heard of Auschwitz and knows nothing of what happened there has been living in a bubble!
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Powerful scene indeed.
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Thanks 🙂
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I can’t imagine ever having the morbid curiosity of wanting to visit these places.
Well done, Linda.
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When my son moved to Germany, he did eventually go to see Auschwitz. He says he’ll never go back, but he’s glad he did go that one time. He said no one talks, there are no nature sounds. Absolute silence.
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I can understand it. I would want to but not want to go, you know?
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Yes, I do know. It’s hard to understand the depths of evil that took place there, and that’s why I have not yet visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. I think I would just stand there and cry.
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It is unfathomable.
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The contrast between the tourists’ and the grandfather’s experience shouts volumes. So well portrayed.
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Thanks so much.
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Dear Linda,
There’s a part of me that’s glad they left some of the camps standing as a reminder. We have an Auschwitz exhibit going on this summer at Union Station in Kansas City. It’s pretty much sold out. A group from our congregation is going in August. I’ll take lots of tissues and notepad. Good story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. I hope you’ll show us some of those pictures over time.
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A powerful description. I can imagine the horrors of history would be palpable in a place like this.
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It must be hard for those survivors to see their horror turned into a tourist attraction.
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Yes, I think so. Although there are still some survivors out there who want these places to remain as a “never Forget!” and “Never Again!” reminder.
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i had an opportunity to visit auschwitz some years ago it left me stumped at how it could have happened. never again.
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Brainwashing is a slo and sometimes tedious project, but it can be done. When people are ruled by fear and ignorance, atrocities are common.
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The tourists try to understand, but only Shlomo really knows the true horror. I don’t think I would be able to go back.
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It’s surprising to me how many of the survivors of those horrific camps have gone back, by choice. Maybe they’re celebrating their freedom.
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wordless as I read this… very touching and deep.
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Thank you, Bear.
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So much not said, but so much told without words. My heart hurts for Shlomo.
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And all those survivors who are still with us, who have had to hear that what they endured didn’t really happen.
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😦
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Thanks so much. Have it saved now 🙂
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You’re most welcome, Linda.
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You created a haunting atmosphere. Sometimes a place is too quiet. I wonder why he went back?
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Not sure why the survivors go back. Closure, maybe? Or proving to themselves that they didn’t just dream it all.
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I could only imagine the emotion.
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This was perfectly written, no pathos, words few and well chosen. This is bringing chills. We learn from an early age (at my time at least) in Germany: never again. And now we see all these new fascists, all over the place, all over the world. We cannot tolerate that.
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Thanks so much. The thing I find intolerable–one of the things, anyway–is that those who are the most aggressive in calling names and accusing others of Fascism and Nazism are the most guilty of it.
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WordPress gets tricky at times! This is such a heartbreaking story, but yes that has been the reality for so many. Great take!
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