and catches their quiet gleam
amidst busy and rush and to-do.
Crowds push,
Swiss shoppers getting
a Euro bargain.
Children pull and run off,
prams heavy-laden.
Dogs snuffle for crumbs.
Spoons clink glass at outdoor cafés,
Air sharp with autumn.
For those with eyes to see
they quietly remind
of tragedies gone by.
Names not quite erased.
How many eyes really stumble across them?
Another century, a millenium from here.
People made in the image
of an eternal God
Taken.
Tortured.
Murdered.
Verhaftet.
Deportiert.
Ermordet.
These words stark and cruel
Interrupt my self-absorbed life.
Imprisoned. Deported. Murdered.
Is it enough
just to remember?
To pause for a moment,
then continue
empyting my purse.
Eyes never have enough of seeing.
Some fled.
Überlebt.
Survived.
A sigh of relief.
Does one cancel out the other?
No.
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| Here lived Max Braitsch Born 1901 Arrested as part of the resistance 1939 1940 penal camp Aschendorfer Moor 1944 Pardoned Survived |
Today we celebrate the "Day of German Unity." We are so thankful. Reconcilation, reunification. East and West. One nation again.
Lest we forget what preceeded that division.
One of the things I cherish most about Konstanz is the initiative of artists to lay down Stolpersteine (stumbling stones), small brass stones integrated into the cobblestone in front of the houses (the last freely chosen home) where Jews and members of the resistance lived before the second World War. Their names, dates of birth and death, and what happened to them are straightforwardly stated. If they escaped. The names of the camps where they were taken. Whether they survived or were murdered.
I stop, I pause, I remember. I pray.
Lest we forget.
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| The school courtyard where my husband teaches. |
 |
| Here taught Dr. Hermann Venedey Born 1904 Fled 1933 Switzerland Survived |
 |
| Here lived Simon Alexander Born 1901 Arrested 1938 Dachau Deported 1940 Gurs Rivesaltes Murdered September 18, 1942 Auschwitz |
These photos from the Stolpersteine Konstanz site: http://stolpersteine-konstanz.de/.
