chanting around furnaces…

… The Holocaust. here we have one lesson we can learn from Auschwitz. The Holocaust taught us what man can be. When man alone is permitted to decide how to live his life, the product may be either a saint or a demon, but the one will be as justifiable and legitimate as the other. If man is to live by the kind of moral standard which will make it impossible fro another Auschwitz to occur, it must be an objective standard, imposed from outside of man, or else it will twist to accommodate itself to whatever man wants.

Thomas Merton, a Cistercian monk and author of books about spirituality; in his poem “Chant to be Used in Processions around a Site With Furnaces,” Merton speakes in the voice of Rudolf Hoess, the Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

… a dramatic portrayal of SS Officer Rudolf Hoess. Hoess served as commandant of Auschwitz from May 1940 to November 1943. He was convicted of genocide at the Nuremberg trials and handed over to the Polish authorities who charged him with the murder of three and a half million men, women and children. Hoess responded, “No. Only two and one half million. The rest died from disease and starvation.”

---Bourke-White said, "I saw and photographed the piles of naked, lifeless bodies, the human skeletons in furnaces, the living skeletons who would die the next day... and tattooed skin for lampshades. Using the camera was almost a relief. It interposed a slight barrier between myself and the horror in front of me." click image for source...

—Bourke-White said, “I saw and photographed the piles of naked, lifeless bodies, the human skeletons in furnaces, the living skeletons who would die the next day… and tattooed skin for lampshades. Using the camera was almost a relief. It interposed a slight barrier between myself and the horror in front of me.”
click image for source…

This poem was published in 1961 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti for the inaugural edition of “Journal for the Protection of all Beings.”

Chant to be Used in Processions around a Site with Furnaces

How we made them sleep and purified them
How we perfectly cleaned up the people and worked a big heater
I was the commander I made improvements and installed a guaranteed system taking account of human weakness I purified and I remained decent
How I commanded I made cleaning appointments and then I made the travellers sleep and after that I made soap

I was born into a Catholic family but as these people were not going to need a priest I did not become a priest I installed a perfectly good m

ne it gave satisfaction to many

When trains arrived the soiled passengers received appointments for fun in the bathroom they did not guess

It was a very big bathroom for two thousand people it awaited arrival and they arrived safely
There would be an orchestra of merry widows not all the time much art

If they arrived at all they would be given a greeting card to send home taken care of with good jobs wishing you would come to our joke…

---On the first day of the trial, the press reported on the lines that trailed before the courtroom. One of those waiting was Zindel Greenspan who was the father of Herschel Greenspan. He was summoned to testify at trial a short time later. There were witnesses who wanted to testify but were disqualified. There were witnesses who Gideon Hausner was sure would testify, for example, Antek (Isaac) Zuckerman and Zivia Lubetkin. Gideon Hausner disqualified Hayka Grossman from testifying and she never forgave him for this. There was a large influx of those wishing to testify in Bureau 06. Thousands of survivors wanted to testify and Bureau 06 conducted their preliminary screening. The witness needed to be capable of speaking, up to telling his/her story, and have had some connection to Eichmann. In addition, there were political guidelines. For example, Golda Meir, then foreign minister, sought to highlight the issue of racism in order to improve relations with Africa. ---click image for source...

—On the first day of the trial, the press reported on the lines that trailed before the courtroom. One of those waiting was Zindel Greenspan who was the father of Herschel Greenspan. He was summoned to testify at trial a short time later. There were witnesses who wanted to testify but were disqualified. There were witnesses who Gideon Hausner was sure would testify, for example, Antek (Isaac) Zuckerman and Zivia Lubetkin. Gideon Hausner disqualified Hayka Grossman from testifying and she never forgave him for this. There was a large influx of those wishing to testify in Bureau 06. Thousands of survivors wanted to testify and Bureau 06 conducted their preliminary screening. The witness needed to be capable of speaking, up to telling his/her story, and have had some connection to Eichmann. In addition, there were political guidelines. For example, Golda Meir, then foreign minister, sought to highlight the issue of racism in order to improve relations with Africa. —click image for source…

Another improvement I made was I built the chambers for two thousand invitations at a time the naked votaries were disinfected with Zyklon B

Children of tender age were always invited by reason of their youth they were unable to work they were marked out for play
They were washed like the others and more than the others
Very frequently women would hide their children in the piles of clothing but of course when we came to find them we would send the children into the chamber to be bathed

How I often commanded and made improvements and sealed the door on top there were flowers the men came with crystals
I guaranteed always the crystal parlour
I guaranteed the chamber and it was sealed you could see through portholes

They waited for the shower it was not hot water that came through vents though efficient winds gave full satisfaction portholes showed this
The satisfied all ran together to the doors awaiting arrival it was guaranteed they made ends meet

How I could tell by their cries that love came to a full stop I found the ones I had made clean after about a half hour Jewish male inmates then worked up nice they had rubber boots in return for adequate food I could not guess their appetite
Those at the door were taken apart out of a fully stopped love for rubber male inmates strategic hair and teeth being used later for defence
Then the males removed all clean love rings and made away with happy gold

A big new firm promoted steel forks operating on a cylinder they got the contract and with faultless workmanship delivered very fast goods
How I commanded and made soap 12 pounds fat 10 quarts water 8 ounces to a pound of caustic soda but it was hard to find any fat

“For transporting the customers we suggest using light carts on wheels a drawing is submitted”
“We acknowledge four steady furnaces and an emergency guarantee”

“I am a big new commander operating on a cylinder I elevate the purified materials boil for 2 to 3 hours and then cool”
For putting them into a test fragrance I suggested an express elevator operated by the latest cylinder it was guaranteed

Their love was fully stopped by our perfected ovens but the love rings were salvaged
Thanks to the satisfaction of male inmates operating the heaters without need of compensation our guests were warmed

All the while I had obeyed perfectly
So I was hanged in a commanding position with a full view of the site plant and grounds
You smile at my career but you would do as I did if you knew yourself and dared
In my days we worked hard we saw what we did our self sacrifice was conscientious and complete our work was faultless and detailed

Do not think yourself better because you burn up friends and enemies with long-range missiles without ever seeing what you have done

…It seems that there is a Gresham’s Law operating in the field of morality: the bad drives out the good. In the 1920′s an Auschwitz was uthinkable. But it is unthinkable in our own time? Man’s freedom lies in his ability to choose between good and evil, not in his capacity to define what is right and wrong. Auschwitz is a horror only by a certain definition. If our man-made definition and Eichmann’s disagree, what is there to make our definition more compelling than his? Auschwitz may not tell us anything about god, but it does tell us everything about man, and only Auschwitz could teach us that.

 

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