T. Borowski: Noc nad Birkenau (Night on Birkenau)

And night again. And lowering sky
circling like a buzzard, coiled like a beast.
In dull silences above the camp
pale falls the corpselike moon.

And like a shield in battle shed
among the heavenly lamps Orion shines
while here dull in the quiet bark of cars
the crematorium's eyes still gleam.

Sparse and silent. Stone-like sleep.
No breath to catch. Throats burn.
Hearts broken in the candles lit to mourn
the silence of three million dead.

Night. Unending dark. No dawn.
Eyes burn dark from lack of sleep. And like
God's judgement on the awful world
the fog descends on Birkenau.

Translation © 2026 Jurek Kirakowski