Dachau Visit on a Rainy Day

You can walk right up to the ovens
and you can walk to the gas chamber

if you are in the Munich area,
it is easy to get to by train

on the banks of River Isar
north of the Bavarian Alps

remember shards of shattered glass
from the windows of synagogues,

homes smashed by rioters
Kristallnacht newsreel film 1938:

Take the train to Dachau

light rain upon tall yellow poplars
walk a trail through the woods

the first Nazi concentration camp

go inside one of the barracks
walk around the crematories

stand motionless

you’ll see a few clothes hanging;
utensils, metal plate, the log,

a book of names.

Ilona Martonfi