"A Race Toward Death" by Ava Filipek


A race toward death
They made us line up, one straight line across
The race started in Sighet
We did not know
We started off jogging to one of two ghettos
Started to go faster when we reached a smaller ghetto
We all started to run to Auschwitz
Sister and mother could go on no more
Me and father race more in Auschwitz
Race to Buna
I hear stories of Jews who stopped running
I run as fast as I can
Winter had come
I hurt my foot, but it heals
I am not supposed to run for two weeks
I run anyway to escape
We are ordered to run more
We arrive in Buchenwald
This is where my father stops running
Americans see the track we are running on eventually
We are freed




Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 27, 2019 at 7:05 AM

    Really good job Ava. The running was a very good topic for your poem, as it happened a lot. However, I think the tenses you used were confusing to me, because it was hard to read between past and present tenses like that. But, how you brought it around to the end with being freed gave some real hope, and I appreciated it.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 8, 2019 at 5:39 AM

    This was great! You used a topic that i would have never thought of. When i started ready i understood that they were running to Auschwitz, but i didn't identify the it switched to the death march until later. At the end i think you brought it together. Good job!

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