Questions and Thoughts

Why are we hiding, mother?

Some people with great power don't like us, honey.

Why not? Everyone at school likes us.
They say our family is nice.
Anyway, those people don't even know us.
How can they hate us if they don't know us?

They put us in a category according to our heritage.
They hate us because we're different.
They say their race is superior.

What right do they have to assume that?
We are God's chosen people;
If any race is superior, it would be ours.
I'm tired of hiding; I want to grow up like a normal child.
I want to remember hopscotch and jumprope,
Not fear and pain.
The only time I should hide is to play hide-and-seek;
The only time I should be chased is when playing tag.
But that's not how it is.
Because I was born, I am hiding for my life;
I am chased by killers.
Leave us alone! We have our whole lives to live.

Written for an English assignment on the Holocaust, 2/29/96

Heather J Wightman

Last modified: Tue Mar 3 16:03:09 EST