36 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
36 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: What is the sound of a genocide?
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description: A poem reflecting on the sounds and pathways to genocide
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date: 2025-01-27
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author: Jennifer C J Radtke
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---
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# What is the sound of a genocide?
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Does a genocide sound like the judgement in court,<br>
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the hammer come down, rustling paper and the jangle of keys;<br>
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now some of the guilty must pay for their crimes?<br>
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Or does it sound like the screams of the victims,<br>
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the bullets, the gas and the anguish of people discarded;<br>
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the last whisper of breath of the last one to die?<br>
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Is it more like the clattering of trains on their tracks,<br>
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the orders given, the bustle and then the final slam of the door<br>
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as the people inside murmur their unease?<br>
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Perhaps a genocide can be heard coming in the chorus of hate,<br>
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escaping the shadows on roads paved with silence,<br>
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as pens scratch on paper and plans come together?<br>
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Do you hear it echo in the voice of one who sees profit in division,<br>
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the denial that such things ever happened, or could happen here,<br>
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or in the silent heart of one who looks upon another, and says, I --<br>
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I am better.<br>
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# Notes
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Genocide is not a silent, hidden crime. This piece is a reflection on the way it unfolds over time, written following a circuit service for Holocaust Memorial Day. From the time a genocide is formally declared with criminal responsibility, it follows events backwards, drawing on the [ten stages of genocide](https://hmd.org.uk/learn-about-the-holocaust-and-genocides/what-is-genocide/the-ten-stages-of-genocide/) for some of the steps.
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