Faiths Together in Croydon

The Holocaust ongoing and many people’s lives no more, 

On one day, with Jews packed in a truck, 

They would come across an incident that granted them luck. 

A young pale boy named Motke Zeidel, 

Was sent out of the truck, left idle, 

He assumed the Nazis would shoot him dead, 

The “Holocaust of bullets” was coming for him ahead. 

But he was surprised to find that he was wrong, 

He was saved, despite expecting his swan song. 

The Nazis wanted him and the others to drag corpses, 

For no clear reason, but they wanted to stay on course, 

So they began to drag them up, got everything in shape, 

And then the prisoners came up with an idea: escape. 

They began to dig a tunnel with saws, files and spoons, 

Digging in shifts, through the sun and moon, 

They were digging for months, and they had some setbacks, 

But soon, they got near the barbed wire, and attacked. 

April 15, the day of the dash for freedom, 

They waited and waited till 11pm. 

The crawl began in groups of ten, 

They emerged, it seemed all done, but then, 

Gunfire emerged from all around, 

The groups scattered before they were found, 

Hiding in the forest for months, 

Evading the oncoming Nazi hunts, 

They braved it out for oh so long, 

Until the war ended, and they could sing their songs. 

So ends this escape tale told in rhyme, 

The incredible story of one day in time. 

Winner of the Primary School SACRE Holocaust Competition

Eloise Walters, Year 6 Rockmount Primary School - click on the link below.

Stuck Together