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Among the countless tragedies of the Holocaust of
Jews during the Nazi regime it would be impossible
to single out any one in particular, especially as
most of the victims disappeared in gas chambers
without any trace. No-one will ever know the terrible
fears and horrors these people experienced before
their deaths.
Personally, I feel that one of the most cruel and
heartbreaking incidents in World War II was the fate
of 41 orphans in the French village of Izieu in the
vicinity of Lyon. These children, aged three to
thirteen, lived in the Jewish children's home at Izieu
until August 4th, 1944, when they were arrested on
the orders of Klaus Barbie, the Nazi commander of
Lyon. They were deported to the death camp of
Oswiecim (Auschwitz). None of the children survived.
One can only hope that their lives ended in
a gas chamber rather than by being thrown alive into
the flames of the ovens, a method often used by the
camp commanders when children were involved.
Klaus Barbie, who was called by the French
people, "The Butcher of Lyon", because of his
pleasure in watching the torture and executions of
his many victims, had only one regret about his
heinous crime in Izieu. He found it unfortunate that
no money or other valuables could be found when
his hangmen searched the children's home after
their deportation.
In May of 1987, the month of Barbie's trial, a
particularly moving document came to light. It was
a letter written hastily to God by the eleven year old
Liliane Gerenstein before she was taken from Izieu
on the road that led to the gas chambers. She wrote:
It is thanks to you that I enjoyed a wonderful
life before, that I was spoiled, that I had lovely
things that others do not have. God? Bring back
my parents, my poor parents, protect them
(even more than myself) so that I may see them
again as soon as possible. Have them come
back one more time. Oh! I can say that I have
had such a good mother, and such a good
father! I have such faith in You that I thank You
in advance.
After reading these lines, I could not help thinking
back to my own childhood when I was Liliane's age.
My teachers of religion came back to my mind;
those who taught us the importance of faith and
prayer, especially in times of danger and complete
isolation. Therefore I cannot help thinking that
Liliane Gerenstein prayed not only before her forced
departure from Izieu, but also during her long trip
in the dark cattle trains to her final destination; and
I imagine that she was still praying for the safety of
her parents even when she was aware that the last
moments of her young life had arrived.
While I was reading Liliane's prayer and her
desperate cry, the opening bars of this composition
came to my mind. They are followed by feelings of
fear, pain and sorrow. A dramatic, dynamic climax
before the end of this work brings back, with even
greater force and emotion, the hopeless cry of the
beginning. Gradually, the music becomes softer,
and the work concludes in a mood of quiet, distant
sadness, disappearing into eternity.
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