KILCIE, JULY 4, 1946

They return in search of loved ones,
hoping
         praying
                    not finding.
Learn where father,
                                  mother,
                                                sister, brother died.
On streets of Kilcie,
                               stares of surprised Poles.
"How come Hitler didn't kill you?"

On July fourth
                         rumors quickly spread.
Fifteen Polish children,
                      kidnapped by Jews,
                                         their blood drained for ritual use.

Poles surround Ulicy Plate 7.
                   Kill the Jews! Kill the Jews! The crowd shouts.
                                             The police watch
                                                           spitting on the ground.

Men
       women
                  children
dragged from the building
             thrown out of windows.
Forty two Jews killed.
What Hitler couldn't do they did.
 

-Bernard Otterman