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"Riddle" By William Heyen

Teaching the Holocaust and other Genocides

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From Belsen a crate of gold teeth,
from Dauchau a mountain of shoes,
from Auschwitz a skin lampshade,
Who killed the Jews?

Not I, cries the typist,
not I, cries the engineer,
not I, cries Adolf Eichmann,
not I, cries Albert Speer.

My friend Fritz Nova lost his father –
a petty official had to choose.
My friend Lou Abrahms lost his brother.
Who killed the Jews?

David Nova swallowed gas,
Hyman Abrahms was beaten and starved.
Some men signed their papers,
and some stood guard,

and some herded them in,
and some dropped the pellets,
and some spread the ashes,
and some hosed the walls,

and some planted the wheat,
and some poured the steel,
and some cleared the rails,
and some raised the cattle.

Some smelled the smoke,
some just heard the news.
Were they Germans?  Were they Nazis?
Were they human?  Who killed the Jews?

The stars will remember the gold,
the sun will remember the shoes,
the moon will remember the skin,
But who killed the Jews:                          

Heyen, William. “Riddle.” in Erika: Poems of the Holocaust. St.  Louis: Time Being Books, 1991, p. 42.

Questions for Consideration

1.      What is the central "riddle" in the poem? How does the title guide your interpretation of its themes?

2.      How do the disturbing opening images symbolize the murderous horror of the camps?

3.      Explain how the repetition of “Not I” suggest individuals are not willing to accept responsibility for their roles in the Nazi genocide?

4.      How does the speaker’s incorporation of personalized accounts of death in the camps powerfully contrast the previous stanzas of denial?

5.       Through the repetition of “some,” what does the speaker suggest about who is responsible for the death of the Jews?

6.      Why does the speaker question the humanity of those who stood by as the Nazi’s carried out their genocide of the Jewish people?

7.      Although people will deny their genocidal accountability, the universe will remember. Why does the speaker make this important distinction
         between humanity and the natural world?

8.      How did the poem make you feel, and what aspects of it evoked that response?

9.      What do you think the poet wants the reader to take away from the poem?

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