{"id":1570,"date":"2009-08-03T08:44:29","date_gmt":"2009-08-03T15:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/?p=1570"},"modified":"2009-08-09T05:43:44","modified_gmt":"2009-08-09T12:43:44","slug":"it-loves-blood-the-russian-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/it-loves-blood-the-russian-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It Loves Blood, The Russian Earth . . .’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/b> concise, powerful explanation why ‘Auschwitz’ is an inadequate symbol for European genocide here in the West<\/a>. We concur. <\/p>\n

During the Soviet period we stood on the ridge line outside Kiev at Babi Yar<\/a>. 60 years later the Western mind has yet to grasp fully the magnitude of it all. Tears fail even to touch the surface of grief.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

BABI YAR<\/p>\n

By Yevgeni Yevtushenko
\n(Translated by Benjamin Okopnik (10\/96))<\/p>\n

No monument stands over Babi Yar.
\nA steep cliff only, like the rudest headstone.
\nI am afraid.
\nToday, I am as old
\nAs the entire Jewish race itself.<\/p>\n

I see myself an ancient Israelite.
\nI wander o’er the roads of ancient Egypt
\nAnd here, upon the cross, I perish, tortured
\nAnd even now, I bear the marks of nails.<\/p>\n

It seems to me that Dreyfus is myself. *1*
\nThe Philistines betrayed me – and now judge.
\nI’m in a cage. Surrounded and trapped,
\nI’m persecuted, spat on, slandered, and
\nThe dainty dollies in their Brussels frills
\nSqueal, as they stab umbrellas at my face.<\/p>\n

I see myself a boy in Belostok *2*
\nBlood spills, and runs upon the floors,
\nThe chiefs of bar and pub rage unimpeded
\nAnd reek of vodka and of onion, half and half.<\/p>\n

I’m thrown back by a boot, I have no strength left,
\nIn vain I beg the rabble of pogrom,
\nTo jeers of “Kill the Jews, and save our Russia!”
\nMy mother’s being beaten by a clerk.<\/p>\n

O, Russia of my heart, I know that you
\nAre international, by inner nature.
\nBut often those whose hands are steeped in filth
\nAbused your purest name, in name of hatred.<\/p>\n

I know the kindness of my native land.
\nHow vile, that without the slightest quiver
\nThe antisemites have proclaimed themselves
\nThe “Union of the Russian People!”<\/p>\n

It seems to me that I am Anna Frank,
\nTransparent, as the thinnest branch in April,
\nAnd I’m in love, and have no need of phrases,
\nBut only that we gaze into each other’s eyes.
\nHow little one can see, or even sense!
\nLeaves are forbidden, so is sky,
\nBut much is still allowed – very gently
\nIn darkened rooms each other to embrace.<\/p>\n

-“They come!”<\/p>\n

-“No, fear not – those are sounds
\nOf spring itself. She’s coming soon.
\nQuickly, your lips!”<\/p>\n

-“They break the door!”<\/p>\n

-“No, river ice is breaking…”<\/p>\n

Wild grasses rustle over Babi Yar,
\nThe trees look sternly, as if passing judgement.
\nHere, silently, all screams, and, hat in hand,
\nI feel my hair changing shade to gray.<\/p>\n

And I myself, like one long soundless scream
\nAbove the thousands of thousands interred,
\nI’m every old man executed here,
\nAs I am every child murdered here.<\/p>\n

No fiber of my body will forget this.
\nMay “Internationale” thunder and ring *3*
\nWhen, for all time, is buried and forgotten
\nThe last of antisemites on this earth.<\/p>\n

There is no Jewish blood that’s blood of mine,
\nBut, hated with a passion that’s corrosive
\nAm I by antisemites like a Jew.
\nAnd that is why I call myself a Russian!\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

_____________
\n**************************************************<\/p>\n

NOTES
\n—–<\/p>\n

1 – Alfred Dreyfus was a French officer, unfairly dismissed from service in 1894 due to trumped-up charges prompted by anti- Semitism.<\/p>\n

2 – Belostok: the site of the first and most violent pogroms, the Russian version of KristallNacht.<\/p>\n

3 – “Internationale”: The Soviet national anthem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A concise, powerful explanation why ‘Auschwitz’ is an inadequate symbol for European genocide here in the West. We concur. During the Soviet period we stood on the ridge line outside Kiev at Babi Yar. 60 years later the Western mind has yet to grasp fully the magnitude of it all. Tears fail even to touch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-general-aktion","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stiftungleostrauss.com\/bunker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}