I was with them.
We drank from the same
bitter cup.

I hid with them
Feared with them,
Struggled with them
And when the killing was finally done
I had survived
while millions had died.
I do not know why

I have asked many questions
for which there are no answers
And I have even cursed
my life
thinking I could not
endure the pain.

But a flame
inside
refused to die.
I could not throw away
What had been ripped away
from so many.

In the end
I had to choose life.
I had to struggle to cross
the bridge between
the dead and the living.
I had to rebuild
what had been destroyed.
I had to deny death
Another victory.

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Please note that the copyrights for "A Holocaust Survivor's Prayer" and the image on this page are retained by Malka B. The painting is a tribute by Malka B. to her twin sisters, Berthe and Jenny, who died in Auschwitz at age eight and depicts them as they would have been as young women.