1.
In the Jewish town of Khshanov
there isn’t a single Jew
Once upon a time long long ago
the good God waved his magic wand
and the Jews there ceased to be
At the Polish town of Khshanov
there is a Jewish ghetto
an exemplary Jewish ghetto
surrounded by a tall stone wall
locked forever with an iron lock
Good Jews are kept in there
Jews who behave themselves in an exemplary fashion
they know their proper place
they do not quarrel do not yell do not try to break out
they never steal trade from their neighbors
and bother neither the decent people
nor their cantankerous God
(vav-yod-nun-resh וינר
the rounded stones whisper to each other
vav-yod-nun-resh)
Happy Jews are kept in there
my great-grandfathers and their fathers
Undisturbed but for the worms and the moles
serenely they are awaiting the coming of the Messiah
and to his call they'll rise with all their gold teeth
with their skin and hair untouched by human hand
An exemplary Jewish ghetto
a cultural asset of the Polish nation
2.
In his youth my grandfather Zelig-Felix loved all kinds of trinkets
yet he wore them only to a fair or to the stock exchange in Warsaw
and on the way back as the train was nearing Khshanov
he would take off his cufflinks his gold chain and his cornelian signet
and leave them all for safekeeping with a friendly conductor
However one day overexcited by a successful transaction
(later on his successes were so many that they ceased to excite him)
he forgot all caution and came off the train in all his finery
At the station he was met by Reb Leiba my great-grandfather
Reb Leiba saw his son all dolled up in the goyish fashion
and gave him a slap in the face
My grandfather Zelig-Felix put his hand under his chin
to stop the blood from running onto his starched shirtfront
and reb Leiba said
it wouldn’t do to disinherit my eldest male offspring
yet apparently he’s getting too big for my house
Why don’t you son go and start a business in Vienna
I'm sure you’ll find Vienna to your liking
The year was nineteen hundred and eleven
Life was quite good to the Jews in Vienna
As was their wont
they expected this state of things to go on forever
3.
My aunt Franzi said we are leaving Vienna
It was the summer of nineteen thirty five and the weather was perfect
Her husband uncle Fritz a young and fashionable interior designer
went to his study
cleared his sofa of sketches for the von Eckerstahls’ new villa
took off his cream-colored silk blouse
his white tussore trousers
and his pleated summer sandals
he put on his persian dressing gown
lay down on the sofa
and covered himself head to foot with a plaid bought in Scotland
We are leaving Vienna
said aunt Franzi to her favorite sister Erna
God what a scaredy-cat you are
cried my aunt Erna
We are leaving Vienna
said aunt Franzi to her brother Shachne
Girl you are ruining your husband’s career
said my uncle Shachne
We are leaving Vienna said aunt Franzi to her father
My willful kitten said my grandfather Zelig-Felix fondly
and lightly tapped her smooth white forehead with the knob of his cane
while uncle Fritz was still lying on the sofa
with his head under the Scottish blanket
My frail blue-eyed aunt Franzi
the spoiled baby of the family
will of iron under the peach-cream skin
tough neck under the golden curls
She liquidated all property
her own and uncle Fritz’s
and transferred the capital to London
She packed up her beautiful fin-de-siècle furniture
and dispatched it by sea to London
She arranged in boxes the collection of Roman glassware
the rare early Toulouse-Lautrec posters
and the post-impressionist paintings
acquired by Fritz when they were still affordable
She insured the lot she paid all the taxes
she greased all the palms that needed greasing
and sent everything to London
Then she walked up to the sofa
pulled the plaid off the head of her husband
and said Fritz we are leaving Vienna forever
go say goodbye to friends and family members
Fritz and Franzi passed away in London forty odd years later
he from pneumonia
she from cancer of the stomach
Never again did they see their relatives or friends
4.
After the emissary from Palestine had departed
having given them a funny spiel about settling in Zion
aunt Zelda aunt Gita and uncle Shachne
stayed for a long while in their living room
discussing the peculiar stranger
Have you noticed the necktie he was wearing
Well you wouldn’t expect them to wear ties over there would you
And his gaiters the black gaiters with the brown suit
Oh stop it aunt Gita said the laughing hurts me
And what a name he invented for himself Dov Even-Sapir
just a common Berele Shapira I’m sure
Yes but he’s got a letter of introduction from doctor Marmurstein
Good idea let the doctor himself go with the Palestinian yokel
he’s just the right kind of a misanthrope and a failure
5.
No
said Rudy von Lissitzky to my uncle Shachne
never shall I find myself another friend like you
never shall I have such a partner to do sparring at the sports club
to discuss Kokoschka and Kathe Kollwitz
to argue about Richard Strauss and Kierkegaard
to wander at night through the streets of springtime Vienna
All this cannot last long said my uncle Shachne
They just want to exploit us as cheap labor
I’ll be back in no time and everything’ll come back again
just wait and see the muscles I’ll have developed
Do not try to comfort me said Rudy von Lissitzky
I know this is a loss that cannot be avoided
we always sacrifice for the fatherland our best assets
6.
When my aunt Gita drank her morning coffee
her maid would remove carefully the skin from the warm cream –
the sight of skin caused nervous spasms to my aunt Gita
When a seamstress sewed panties for my aunt Gita
she would put soft silk ribbon over the seams –
uncovered seams irritated aunt Gita’s tender body
When my aunt Gita went to see a moving picture
her escort would buy all the seats around her –
closeness of other people discomforted my aunt Gita
When the transport arrived at Treblinka
my aunt Gita was lying in frozen urine on the floor of the car
but she was still alive
7.
Mirka a far relation of mine from Khshanov
a plump sturdy girl of seventeen
loved puppies kittens little chicks and poor old women
She cared for them all and babied them all
while waiting for a husband
to bring a dozen children to the world
The learned gentleman in white gown
in whose hands Mirka found herself
when other members of her family ceased to be
wasn’t interested in her capacity for child-bearing
he was facing a different scientific problem
He placed on Mirka’s clean young body
a louse
First one then five or six more
and applied himself to the observation of the insects
He allowed Mirka and other girls to have a weekly shower
provided them with nourishment sufficient and wholesome
let them out for a daily walk in the courtyard
and just forbade them to comb out their hair
to get rid of the lice and the eggs
(The control group was kept in a neighboring cage
under totally different conditions)
With the aid of this experiment which lasted a year
the researcher succeeded in refuting completely
a bias current in those days in science
He proved that lice would thrive and develop
on a body which is clean healthy and well-nourished
just as well as they would on a body
which is sick dirty and wasted
and therefore the proliferation of lice among the inferior nations
(and their low occurrence among the race of the masters)
is by no means explained by their squalid living conditions
but is imprinted in their genetic structure
True at the end Mirka got sick with typhus
yet her strong organism fought successfully the illness
and all in all
she survived the war without any serious damage
8.
The first-born son of my grandfather Zelig-Felix
the heir of the family's commercial house
an aesthete a sybarite and arbiter elegantiarum
a student of the philosophy of Fichte and Hegel
a poet and a connoisseur of the Jewish Renaissance folklore
a scion of the dynasty from the townlet of Khshanov
which produced alternately businessmen and sages
my father Meyer Wiener
happened to belong to the generation of sages
Yearning for a cause that was just and honest
he joined the Austrian communist party
he gave up his inheritance
(ah what have you done daddy)
handed over his automobile to the party
returned his house to his father
and settled down in a modest four-roomed rented apartment
where he made do with just one servant
and had his meals brought from an eating-house next door
Yet even this he soon found unsatisfying
He felt that the world was rolling into an abyss
and needed a complete remaking
and so at the end of the ’twenties
my father left forever his beloved Vienna
and went to build a new society in Russia
He settled on the soil
of struggle and toil
the land of the common weal
where all people are equal
and the Jews are equal
the land of a shining ideal
There he learned some broken Russian and perfect Yiddish
married my mother and brought me into the world
had all the experiences that the time and the place afforded
yet managed to survive till world war two broke out
Into this just war he threw himself with enormous relief
As a member of the corps of intellectual volunteers
none of whom knew how to use a weapon
he got trapped by the enemy near the city of Viazma
and in the fourth month of the war
having killed not a single German
he died for a just cause
9.
My grandfather Zelig-Felix was caught in Holland
You managed to run quite far away grandpa
from Vienna up to the very edge of Europe
True it all ended in the same fashion
yet you had the time of your life for a whole additional year
trying your luck with Dutch wives and even with maidens
It is quite possible that at some fat farm in Holland
I still have a beer-guzzling half-Jewish uncle
10.
He asked aunt Zelda to take a ring off her finger
as if to admire the stone
and with a smile let it fall into his pocket
Such a beautiful young smile
it’s nice even that he likes my ring
an aquamarine with a slight blemish
not expensive but I was fond of it
Gita the fusspot always made fun of me
When all this is over I’ll find myself another one like it
And now he said and flashed his young smile
will you please go in and have a shower
11.
To survive the war with Aryan papers
To remember always that you are a Jew
to remember always that you are not a Jew
Never to wear old dirty clothes to take care of fingernails and teeth
for it's well known that the Jews are slovenly and smelly
Never to wear smart new clothes
for the Jews are cleanliness-crazy and foppish
Never to wear a beard
big beard is a sign of Jewish distinction
Never to shave too smoothly
smooth face means a Jew who has just shaved off his beard and sidecurls
Not to be too skinny
skinny body means a Jew escaped from a ghetto
Not to be too fat
it's well known that a Jew fattens on other people's labor
Never to talk in a loud voice
for the Jews are importunate and brazen
Never to talk in a quiet voice
for the Jews are cowardly and self-effacing
Never to laugh and never to smile
for it's well known that a Jew rejoices in the misery of others
Never to sigh never to complain never to cry
for a Jew is forever miserable and unhappy
Never to look aside when meeting a stranger
every Jew has a guilty conscience
Never to look anyone straight in the eye
all the Jews are insolent and forward
To offer no one anything
for a Jew is double-faced and servile
To ask no one for anything
a Jew is forever begging and shnorring
To speak without the Jewish accent
the Jews always speak with an ugly accent
Not to speak too fluently the local language
the Jewish ability for foreign languages is famous
Not to take too great a care of the wife and the children
all Jews are exemplary husbands and fathers
Never to approach another woman
all Jews are lechers and seducers
Not to look for a decent job
a Jew always tries to get himself a cushy position
Not to look for a dirty job
the white soft hands of a Jew will be his undoing
Not to idle around
the Jews are known parasites and spongers
Not to try and start your own business
all Jews are profiteers tricksters and hucksters
Not to get into conversations with people
Jews always poke their noses in other people's affairs
Not to avoid conversations
for the Jews are unsociable and haughty
Never to enter either a street toilet or a bath-house or a brothel
a Jew is scared to death of undressing
for his Jewishness is written on his naked body
Yet not to avoid these places
those afraid of undressing must be Jewish
Not to frequent the church during the service
his awkward sign of the cross will betray a Jew
Yet the avoidance of church services is not recommended
the neighbors will say you're either godless or Jewish
Never to be in public view
for the Jews are all ambitious upstarts
and never to hide
for only the Jews are hiding
Never to recognize in the street either Rukhale or Shlomke
even if they're being beaten and murdered
especially when they're being beaten and murdered
just to glance with distaste and walk on without haste
clutching the Aryan papers in the pocket
12.
Two letters
I
Grazhinka my dearest
what a joy that you’ve been liberated at last
As you see I’ve survived I am living in Turkestan
and am terribly worried about all my people
I’m begging you and imploring you
for the sake of God write to me soon
where are my mamma and papa
where’re my sisters Anda and Reginka
and my little brother Shimek
where’s aunt Ruzia and uncle Leo
where’re my cousins Yuzek Lutek Rysio and Valenty
where’re my nieces Mania Niuska and Sula
where’s uncle Samson where're my grandpa and grandma
where’re aunt Lida and aunt Bella
where’re Alina the blonde and Alina the ginger-head
where are Maurice and Elka and Hania and Fela
God how I miss you all you cannot imagine
Waiting for a letter
your loving Marysia
P.S. From the upper shelf in the smaller pantry
take some silver anything it doesn’t matter
sell it and send me at once some money
so that I could come back home
II
Dear and much esteemed Miss Marysia
It was good to hear from you
whoever would believe that you might survive
I hope you won’t be cross dear Miss Marysia
but the silver has all been taken by the good people
Lomovski took the big bear
Anelka took the oval tray and the candlesticks
the round tray and two of the cups went to Baryla
the dinner set got divided between Malitski Kulavy and Turma
and Chapla took the third cup and the little bear
the Medzinskis took all the silver spoons and forks
but the knives got snatched up by pani Jadwiga
the biscuit dish went to Kruchka
the cream boat went to panna Zosia
the sewing set went to the one-legged Lilka
so that I myself got left with just some trifles
but if you care just let me know
I'll sell them and send you those miserable pennies
And anyway let me know how you are doing
it must be hot in Turkestan and vegetables and fruit a-plenty
With best regards
your faithful maid Grazhinka
P.S. As to coming back here I wouldn’t bother
your house’s been taken over by other people
your family’s all gone up in smoke
and no one will give back your silver
13.
Teeny-weeny-sheeny
plays violiny
walks on a tightrope
eats shit and white soap
do you like or don’t you like
sheeny-meany little kike –
the kids sang on the street
This however had nothing to do with me
my Russian friends loved me
they valued me on my personal merits
(I also loved them)
and anyway they said
you don’t at all look Jewish
When I decided to leave for Israel
my Russian friends called me a traitor
you were nourished on our bread
you breathed our air
you grew up on our culture
our soldiers died defending you
and anyway they said we loved you didn’t we
how can you abandon us and Russia
My Russian friends were mistaken
I do indeed look Jewish
I look like my communist father
Like him I yearned for a clean just cause
or at least for such a place
where I don't have to walk on a tightrope
14.
The ugly duckling of the middle sea
makes waves struggles to stay afloat
desperately jumping from wavecrest to wavecrest
now you see it now you don’t
maybe it’s there and maybe it’s not
maybe it’s been already maybe it’s still to be
our natural habitat
God Almighty has given us that
the bright site of restful suspension
from the centuries-long tension
the promised territory
out of reach of history
where there indeed
is absolutely no need
for the struggle for survival
where our God has no rival
the final solution
by a UN resolution
a clumsy amateur arrangement
a magnificent experiment
an ephemeral bubble
to other peoples nothing but trouble
the nagging creditor of humankind
boring everybody to death with its just claims
my only great world power
my one and only hope
I don’t know whether you’ll save me from destruction
but save me from the unspeakable ignominy
which fell to the lot of my family
15.
Come grandpa Zelig let’s take a walk through the streets downtown
You’ll like the beautiful girls from Yemen and Morocco
Their clothes will seem odd to you but their legs are a marvel
Come aunt Gitale let’s visit our big new shopping center
We’ll take bus number thirty one sorry I don’t have a car
we shall do some window shopping sit inside have some coke or coffee
Come uncle Shakhne let’s visit some hotel for instance the Hilton
here’s their gym and this is called a “jaccuzzi”
I’d buy you a subscription but it's very expensive
Come aunt Franzi your place is in the Knesset
there’s a lack there of women like you practical and clever
who see what lies ahead and are able to face the future
Come you too father come to me
I know you wanted to be a citizen of the world I also wanted
It didn't come off never mind maybe in the next incarnation
Come come all of you to my Levantine second homeland
come and see what we’ve achieved since you went out of existence
no Europe of course but you’ll get used to it as I did
And do not worry I haven’t forgotten what happened to you
only let’s stop discussing what it was all about
the words and my strength have both run out
