An Icicle In Auschwitz Poem by Paul Hartal

Born into an Italian Jewish family,
Primo Levi was a young chemist
during the Second World War.
As the war raged
the future writer
joined the resistance movement
and became a partisan
in the mountains of Italy.

In December 1943 Levi was arrested
by Mussolini's fascist militia.
It did not take long
and they deported him to Auschwitz.

When Levi arrived in the death camp
his hair was shaved,
his left arm was tattooed
with six digits that expunged his name
and he became known only
as Haftling (prisoner) number 174517.

One day in the lager,
driven by unbearable  thirst,
he tried to grab an icicle
outside the window.
Unfortunately, at the moment
that he touched the icicle
a brutal guard snatched it from him.

Astonished and shocked,
Levi asked the guard: 'Warum? ' (Why?)
'Hier ist kein warum'
(There is no why here) ,
barked the SS man
and shoved Levi savagely inside.