If World War Two Had Ended in Germany the Same Over-night Way that Socialism Ended
The next day, the remaining
Yellow stars would have fallen
To the motherland. The swastikas
Would be recalled. The gas
Chambers, they might grind
To a seeking, brilliant halt.
Slowly, but, at first there would
Be a few more rounds
Of backed up holocaust traffic,
The thirteenth loaf of a baker’s
Dozen you might say. All the Jews
Would come out of hiding, calling,
“I’m no longer
‘It’” and “Ollie Ollie ong sin freed.”
Those who had emigrated
Would return on gilded wings, dipping
Into baskets of keys to houses in
Names of cities no longer there.
The nazis would have forgotten
The goose step over-night,
And all dress parades in Berlin
Would be immediately canceled
Due to rain. The SS’s false politeness
Perhaps replaced by sour words,
And the anti-Semite puppet show in
Adolph square would continue
Only for another
Week, Punch and Judy preempted.
Those in the hills would not hear
The news until months later.
The transports to the labor camps
Would run
Out of petrol and sprout flat tires.
The human scalp lampshades and hair
Sweaters unsold. The bottom
Would drop out of the market
For melted gold teeth. The dark
Green numbers tattooed on arms
Would all be surgically removed.
And the children’s toys, the wooden0A
Tops and doll houses left during better times,
Would all find new owners. The relatives
On the block would return as if they had been
Away at finishing school. Anne Frank and Peter
Would get married and live happily ever after.
The leftover bones would be piled up and burned
Like ordinary rubbish. Knitted caps of kitten’s
Fur, Hitler youth model bicycles and books
Containing Aryan history lessons would go out
Of fashion. The temples would be joyfully reopened,
The synagogues would have housewarming parties.
The Kushrüt signs would be nailed
To delicatessen storefronts, and rabbis
Would be handed their tzitzit and reinstated
To neighborhood posts. The glass would be broken
Under the groom’s heel at weddings again;
And canters would sing. Masel tov would be heard
On corners. It would be just like when prohibition
Was repealed or the abolishment of slavery.
A freedom would be returned, a freedom, that had been
Previously lost. After Hitler, all countrymen would be
Left standing, legs apart, ready to greet the returning Jews.
Mill
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