Alexander Kimel reflects the context in his poem ‘I Cannot Forget’ by describing, in detail, his experiences in the ghetto and how he wishes he could forget these memories because they were so horrific. He has memories of ‘families vanishing’ and the ‘children shaking like leaves in the wind’, and these help readers understand the horrors inflicted on the Jews. He addresses both how the Jews were treated, and the resulting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that thousands of Jews developed after these events, like soldiers in the war, and how those memories will forever haunt them.
Holocaust surviors recall their experiences in Ghettos.
Curtsey of the Holocaust History Museum in Yad Vashem.
Curtsey of the Holocaust History Museum in Yad Vashem.