One Sorrowful Truth

He persuaded a hate
in a phase of elation,
and devised a vain plot:
Large-scale extermination;
A genocidal notion for elimination;

The tragic operation:
Eradicate them, through and through.
First, relinquish possessions
And tear whole families in two.
Leave them grasping to the Cliff of Life with nothing else to lose.

He installed ignorance,
and like cattle up a ramp,
they board without question
Into the freights black and damp.
A fateful ride on Hell's rails to a Nazi death camp.

The simple freedoms once known
were privileges left stranded.
Some naked, showered, shaven,
stripped of surname and branded;
The "less than fortunate" others dug unmarked graves to land in.

He devoured morale;
This was not a meager meal;
As opposed to their fill:
Grass stew from the barren field,
A scrap of bread crust and a choice: hoard or yield?

The faint and lost expressions
shone at the grueling toils they faced
while fear formed a foul aura
And a pungent stench of death traced.
Arduous times called for tests of faith in a desolate place.

He darkened a people,
yet they strive to overcome
one grim, sorrowful truth
Of their fellow kin gone numb.
A telltale purpose reigning from the Cloudy Kingdom.