Sarah Palestrant's Message

"Tell the story," would be Sarah Palestrant's message. Here she offers a few lines of poetry and photographic images from Poland to convey what being Jewish means to her.

This montage combines a photo of a young boy in Krakow with a piece of a stone memorial at Majdanek.

"During Friday night services, an entire table was lined with Shabbat candles. I stood in the front, looking at the flames. Beyond that was the window, reflecting our faces and the light. Further into that, through the window, I saw Polish pedestrians who stopped about 30 feet on a path near the window, staring at us in amazement."

- Sarah Palestrant, journal entry on the March of the Living in Poland.

"Death in your backyard. Children play on graves. Ashes fertilize golden flowers. I didn't know torture could be so vast and mechanic. The sky opens and the sun does shine here. Lovers hold hands walking into the camp. Students joke while passing the crematorium. And she prepares to give words to her past. Welcome back to hell's shell. She smiles and calls together the students. Can you hear me? Please, stop talking. Stop moving. And stop hating."

- Sarah Palestrant, journal entry on visiting Majdanek, a Nazi death camp in Poland.

Back

	"Tell the story," would be Sarah Palestrant's message. Here she offers a few lines of poetry and photographic images from Poland to convey what being Jewish means to her. This montage combines a photo of a young boy in Krakow with a piece of a stone memorial at Majdanek.
"During Friday night services, an entire table was lined with Shabbat candles. I stood in the front, looking at the flames. Beyond that was the window, reflecting our faces and the light. Further into that, through the window, I saw Polish pedestrians who stopped about 30 feet on a path near the window, staring at us in amazement." - Sarah Palestrant, journal entry on the March of the Living in Poland.
"Death in your backyard. Children play on graves. Ashes fertilize golden flowers. I didn't know torture could be so vast and mechanic. The sky opens and the sun does shine here. Lovers hold hands walking into the camp. Students joke while passing the crematorium. And she prepares to give words to her past. Welcome back to hell's shell. She smiles and calls together the students. Can you hear me? Please, stop talking. Stop moving. And stop hating." - Sarah Palestrant, journal entry on visiting Majdanek, a Nazi death camp in Poland.