holocaust poetry

We played, we laughed
we were loved.
We were ripped from the arms of our
parents and thrown into the fire.
We were nothing more than children.We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We had dreams, then we had no hope. We were taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying, starving, dying. Separated from the world to be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea. This atrocity to mankind can not happen again. Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen away.

1. What is your initial reaction to this poem?

Upon reading the poem i immediately related it to the Jews and pictured the German grottoes and concentration camps. 

1. How does the author use 'we' in this poem?

The author uses 'we' numerous times to create the feeling that we are actually reading a real holocaust story, thus making the poem believable. 

1. What are the verbs used in the first sentence?

Played and laughed

1. What are the verbs used in the second sentence? How do they contrast with those used in the first sentence?

Loved, all 3 of the verbs are ordinary aspects of normal human lives, specifically children in this case because of the verb 'played' 

1. What effect does the listing of 'lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers'? What is it meant to signify?

These professions all signify Jewish roles, specifically in Germany at the time when the Jews were heavily involved in the banking industry

1. What simile is used in the poem and what effect does it have?

'...We were taking like cattle in cars...." it creates the effect that theses people that the author is talking about are insignificant. 

1. How has the poet represented herself in the last sentence?

She represents herself by saying that her or 'we' were the people whose lives were taken away

1. If you could communicate to this person, a victim of the Holocaust, what would you want to say? What do you feel that you must do in your life as a response to this poem?

I guess i would try to do something to undo the past or make it more bearable.