|
Loneliness…
|
a
huge vacuum…
|
while
Europe
prospers,
|
the
people unite,
|
the
borders crumbled,
|
the
foot prints of those who left
|
those
who will never return
|
(because
they are dead)
|
remains
there
|
|
A
chain of empty Synagogues
|
for
concerts…
|
for
libraries…
|
for
…
|
the
removal of consciences,
|
for
remembrance…
|
but…
alone
|
|
Empty
synagogues,
|
awaiting
for parishioners
|
remembering
echoes of the Shema Israel.
|
Synagogues
for concerts,
|
for
libraries
|
for
… hiding shame,
|
for
remembering,
|
empty
Synagogues,
|
lonely.
|
|
Cemeteries
that will no longer receive the dead
|
They
killed them all!
|
They
burned them all!
|
|
Jewish
neighborhoods as memories,
|
with
new life from other people,
|
awaiting
for their old owners
|
that
built them
|
that
filled them
|
that
will never return
|
|
Vienna
is proud of Stephan Zweig
|
Novi Sad
brags about Einstein
|
Budapest
speaks about Freud and Herzl
|
Prague
talks about Kafka and Rabí Yehudá
Levy.
|
There
is the Golem
|
in
an attic
|
waiting
for the magical word
|
that
will awake him
|
Emet…
truth
|
when
six million people found
|
Met…
death
|
|
The
Austro-Hungarian Empire:
|
Joseph
II
|
opened
the ghettos,
|
made
the men equal
|
in
life.
|
The
Nazi Empire:
|
Hitler,
|
closed
the ghettos,
|
made
the man equal
|
in
death.
|
|
The
Danube
is there,
|
as
always
|
for
always,
|
since
always,
|
flows
calmly without stopping,
|
without
being able to stop,
|
without
wanting to stop,
|
irrigating
lands with history,
|
washing
blood,
|
The
Danube
is there,
|
immutable
before human weakness,
|
immutable
in the war.
|
The
Danube
is there,
|
before
the good men
|
before
the bad men.
|
|
The
Danube
is always there,
|
is
not blue,
|
is
muddy, in a greenish brown color,
|
immutable,
|
unconscious,
|
while
at its shores,
|
in
Vienna
,
|
in
Prague
,
|
in
Budapest
,
|
in
Bucharest
,
|
in
Sophia,
|
the
people live and advance,
|
the
wise European Union progress.
|
Where
are the Jews
|
who
were there,
|
before
the Serbians,
|
before
the Hungarians,
|
before
the Turks,
|
before
everybody…?
|
|
Ghosts
that left holes in the cities
|
empty
neighborhoods full of others.
|
Talents
that left,
|
genius
that died.
|
Places
for tourists
|
contemplating
the time
|
between
tours in buses
|
with
repetitive and boring guides' speeches
|
|
Danube
, vein of
Europe
|
state
divisions,
|
that
runs always,
|
as
always,
|
for
always,
|
since
always
|
washing
the blood
|
watching
the history pass by
|
listening
for echoes of the Jews
|
that
left profound foot prints,
|
painful,
|
perennial,
|
as
always…
|
since
always…
|
for
always…
|
©
José Galicot, Tijuana, Mexico
Editor's Note: José Galicot is a
columnist and civic leader in Tijuana, Mexico, and an active member of the
Jewish community across the U.S. border in San Diego.
|