Athens, 2013
Beautiful Corfu, sweet, beloved Corfu*
Beautiful Corfu, sweet, beloved Corfu,
Who knows if the time will ever come for us to live together.
To tell you about my sufferings there,
In the Polish prison cells, the Lager, day and night.
They had us wear straightjackets, with blue and white stripes,
And our brothers and sisters would drop like flies.
The cowardly bastards would strike until hearts would bleed
And the damn murderers would gas women and children.
If we cry, it is in vain, we just ruin our eyes,
Hitler has burnt them; we can’t bring them back.
You, free children, who learned of this ordeal,
Kill fascism, I implore you!
*A concentration camp adapted version of a traditional song.
Citation: “Anne Levi Mordechai”, Excerpts from her interview to Artemis Alcalay as part of the “Greek Jews Holocaust Survivors” project, Athens, 5 February 2013, https://greekjewsholocaustsurvivors.art/en/profile/anna-mordechai/