H I L L E S U M I died in Auschwitz. With almost one and a half million others, out of the six million Jews killed by the Germans. The land of Bach, Goethe, Rilke. Who would have imagined it?
S P I N O Z A I would.
H I L L E S U M ?
S P I N O Z A You wrote that a poem by Rilke is as real and important as a young man falling out of an aeroplane.
You were dreaming. You hadn’t been following the news. You could have known.
H I L L E S U M A friend told me we were going to be gassed. I didn’t believe him.
S P I N O Z A Naive.
H I L L E S U M I thought I’d come back, that it would be a labour camp and I’d survive.
S P I N O Z A With Tolstoy and a Russian grammar in your rucksack. And the Bible. Naive.
H I L L E S U M Says nothing
S P I N O Z A In the freight wagon with 70 others and a box to relieve yourself in. Three days in the train. Naive.
H I L L E S U M Says nothing
S P I N O Z A What did you think when you got out?
H I L L E S U M It was early morning. It was still dark. A crescent moon was shining, and searchlights. There were Germans and dogs. Both barking.