Gerta

Once you were a stowaway
You kept quiet three whole days
Even when they’d stop the train
You never cried you never once complained
When what could never happen did
Not all at once, it was bit by bit
Some things a small doll shouldn’t see
Tell them, Gerta, what you saw with me

Soon you will be all that’s left
The precious things that were somehow kept
By little girls and little boys
Their favorite dolls, their favorite toys
Gerta, you’re my best best friend
You never let go of me back then
I’m leaving you with a heavy heart
Goodbye, my Gerta, now we must part

Gerta, I know my time is near
There’s a museum, it’s far from here
A lot of other dolls live there too
Some who might’ve had it even worse than you
The ones who made it to Jerusalem
They’re asking if you’d want to come & live with them
I think it’s something Gerta you should do
I told them I would have a talk with you

Here, let me fill your china cup
Just like when we’d pretend we were all grown up
Gerta go, go and tell the world
About all the little boys & all the little girls
Tell them, Gerta, tell them what we saw
The good, the bad, Gerta tell it all
The unspeakable must be spoken
Gerta, tell of the spirit that refused to be broken

Tell of the piles of books you saw burning
How it didn’t stop the teaching, it didn’t stop the learning
Don’t forget to tell about the games we played
It’s ok, you can tell them, we were afraid
Tell of the songs we sang in our heads
That helped us remember, helped us forget
Tell how we’d paint and tell how we’d draw
How pretty it was when the snow would fall

And Gerta, tell ‘em how it was before
The pretty clothes you always wore
The dinner table on a Friday night
We’d say the prayers by candle light
And how what could never happen did
Not all at once, it was bit by bit
Some things a small doll shouldn’t see
Tell them, Gerta, what you saw with me

Once you were a stowaway
You kept quiet three whole days

To read the actual letter written to Gerta by Eva Modval, visit http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/nochildsplay/ghettos4.asp