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Benny
by Steven Schmidt
Surprised that my stepson's
new room-mate was not
on a ventilator, I said hello.
Benny looked about eighty.
He just had to tell me
and I just had to listen,
slightly uneasy about ignoring Bobby.
About the guards who said
"You are the chosen people--
Where is your God?"
and always called him
by the number on his arm,
never by a name.
About eleven days in an open cart
without food and water,
pushing out the dead.
"I don't know how I survived."
About sleeping in the lumber yard--
the SS guard asked "How old are you?".
"My son is also 16."
Did not add to his punishment.
About his conclusions:
"I believe in God, but
I want to ask him why
he let this happen."
"Was six million our price
to get a country?
Without a country
you are nothing."
I didn't feel guilty
about neglecting Bobby
Or tell Benny
my last name.