As the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau approaches, TFP proudly revisits Deborah J. Stein's lyrical essay for her mother, Ruth Stein, who fled Nazi Germany in 1937 at the age of 12.
Reading all this cracks them open again and starts to cure some of them at the same time.
Maybe writing these lines was the same..
Peace to your family and to Ruthie and hope they make a good coffee up there and maybe we can hear the singing if we remember the loved ones and listen carefully.
...
🕊️♥️
Deborah, this needs to be heard seen and read!
Thanks as well to Michael Judge for the publication of this important piece
Chris thank you, as always, for your close and generous reading. I appreciate you more than you know. How do we hold it all? always seems to be the question and the writing attempts to make sense of the question for me it seems. Sending my heartfelt thanks and love.
Deborah, thank you for this important piece and testament to love, fragility, and endurance. 🙏 I’ve read these lines to you before, but they seem more crucial with each passing day. They’re from the great Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert, and his timeless poem The Envoy of Mr. Cogito:
go upright among those who are on their knees
among those with their backs turned and those toppled in the dust
you were saved not in order to live
you have little time you must give testimony
be courageous when the mind deceives you be courageous
so much to take .
So many wounds to heal.
Reading all this cracks them open again and starts to cure some of them at the same time.
Maybe writing these lines was the same..
Peace to your family and to Ruthie and hope they make a good coffee up there and maybe we can hear the singing if we remember the loved ones and listen carefully.
...
🕊️♥️
Deborah, this needs to be heard seen and read!
Thanks as well to Michael Judge for the publication of this important piece
Chris thank you, as always, for your close and generous reading. I appreciate you more than you know. How do we hold it all? always seems to be the question and the writing attempts to make sense of the question for me it seems. Sending my heartfelt thanks and love.
Beautiful and heartbreaking. Thanks Deb and Michael.
Thank you so much Tara.
Absolutely lovely, Deb
Many many thanks dearest Fran.
Deborah, thank you for this important piece and testament to love, fragility, and endurance. 🙏 I’ve read these lines to you before, but they seem more crucial with each passing day. They’re from the great Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert, and his timeless poem The Envoy of Mr. Cogito:
go upright among those who are on their knees
among those with their backs turned and those toppled in the dust
you were saved not in order to live
you have little time you must give testimony
be courageous when the mind deceives you be courageous
in the final account only this is important
Michael--no words but thank you for seeing something I could not and believing in this piece and giving me courage always. You are an inspiration.
She needs to write a book and I would devour every word .
Such a nice thing to say--thank you so much Nullsie!