By Grace Almo, Special to JTNews
My heart beats fast, I am nervous.
I need to get in and out, quick.
I hear a gunshot, could be my brother, dead on the ground.
I can’t give up now.
After all of this, we must keep hope.
Back at forest, I have many people waiting for me.
On the count of…
One. Two. Three.
Go!
I casually walk, trying not to look suspicious.
No getting caught now.
I see the ghetto.
Inside, I see some Jewish people,
my family.
I need to convince them to come away with me to a better place,
and fast.
The smell of decaying bodies is unbearable,
The sight is even worse.
I quickly gather as many as possible.
No man can be left behind.
This is my motto.
This poem, by Seattle Hebrew Academy graduate Grace Almo, is based on three brothers who managed to save about 1,200 people from the Nazis’ reign. It was an entry in the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center’s 2009 Jacob Friedman Holocaust Writing and Art Contest.