10/14

The second half of Holocaust is sort of breaking the tension. What I mean is that these Jewish families had to go through the ghettos and the worry of what will happen next, so in the second section, as they are either killed or forced into a work camp they finally know what is going on. These poems are even more horrific and as you see what people forced other people to do. It is sickening to read, but I can't stop. Reznikoff does such a good job of creating these testimonials into well done poems. It is hard to believe with the emotion felt in the second half that he himself did experience the work camps. This whole novel is so violent and depressing, but the very last poem has almost a hint of hope. He's talking about people getting to safety and it gives me hope that people were able to survive under the most extreme situations.