No Compunction
Janet Kuypers
(10/30/11, with sadistic input from JY)
some within the resistance during world war two
knew of others
assisting the Jews, the gypsies, the homosexuals
but most kept everything secret, for their safety
they had to
it was all they could do to stay alive.
#
Aafje waited quietly outside the stalag
so she could help
British pilots captured by the Third Reich
but when they escaped at six a m, under a blanket to Nazi gunfire
they all fell
coloring the snowy fields a crimson red.
despite losing her life in Heusden in silence
Aafje never knew
her relatives Johanna, Petronella, Marie
would all also have a similar fate
and be killed
at the hands of the Third Reich.
#
Marie was a lowlander, and never got involved
in politics
but she couldn’t sit by and do nothing
when her pharmacist, her daughter’s teachers, her
next door neighbors
were shipped to distant concentration camps.
Marie stayed awake through the night, on
her last night alive
with a candle lit in her front window
waiting for the two men, Jacob and Haim, so
she’d conceal them
behind her plaster and lime mock wall
before they could travel on to safety.
she stared all night
along the barren road near the train tracks and forest edge
and only saw the two figures in the distance
once daylight broke
so she left the candle burning, left her daughters
grabbed her coat and ran out the front door
to take them in
but when they were only twenty metres apart
she saw the dark truck coming toward them, littered
with swastikas
so she turned to cross the train tracks
and get to the still blooming rows of trees. Jacob
and Heim followed.
the SS men didn’t even get out of their truck
when they started shooting at them. the SS had
no compunction
for killing the Jews, or the homosexuals, or the resistance.
when Marie saw Haim shot first, her only thought was that Haim
is Hebrew for “life”
before she and Jacob were both gunned down.
#
the squad leader saw the male Jewish noses, could identify the
strong Dutch female
and thought about what fun he could have had with her.
he scanned the skyline for her possible home, then signaled
his men to go
after spotting one house in the distance down the road.
they violently knocked on the door, after seeing the lit candle in the window
they beat again
on the door before the frightened sixteen year old Johanna
made sure in the dark everyone was hidden, wondered where
her mother was
and finally opened her front door.
the three SS men stood there, each with greed in their eyes.
Wo ist dein Fater?
she told him her father died years ago.
her younger sister Petronella walked toward her before he asked
Wo ist deine Mutter?
She said she didn’t know where her mother was.
the three men walked in, and they told her this was
a random search
and they asked is anyone else was at home.
spotting the unpainted plaster and lime wall after
Johanna said no
the leader walked to the wall and knocked, thought he heard
a noise, then asked if this room was
smaller than before.
and before Johanna could answer about the last search
the squad leader stepped back and the the other two men
pointed their Lugers
at the unpainted wall adorned with a single oil painting.
in an effort to somehow alert behind the wall the small
trapped family
young Petronella said she wanted to save the painting.
then she walked toward the painting on the wall when
they opened fire
and killed young Petronella where she stood.
Johanna muffled her scream, in shock and disbelief.
Waarom deed u dit?
Why did you do this?, was all she could ask.
the squad leader walked to her, jerked her head back by her hair.
Sie war dashässhliche...
she was the ugly one, he told her, before he took her
to a bedroom to rape her while the other two listened for noises
from the fake wall
before they took turns raping Johanna.
when one of them would hear a noise in the unpainted wall
they fired one shot.
they didn’t know if they hit anyone, but the noise would stop.
after they finished raping the Dutch girl
repeatedly
the nearly unconscious Johanna smelled petrol
they poured everywhere in her home. they poured more on the
unpainted wall
before they left the house to set it aflame.
they stood outside and waited, in case any vermin
tried to run free.
they all had their guns pointed. they were ready.
as the flames of this little furnace died down
they lit their smokes
on the dying embers and got in their truck.
driving away, the three were pleased,
proud they saved space
on the next train to Birkenau.
Copyright © 2011 Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
| 
(7:18) live 10/31/11 at Café Ballou in Chicago
See YouTube video
