15+ Must-Read Holocaust Poems

(15 to start, 17+ to explore)

Poems about the Holocaust confront one of the darkest periods in human history, aiming to capture the profound tragedy, suffering, and loss experienced during the systematic persecution and genocide of millions.

These poems bear witness to the horrors of the Holocaust, honoring the memory of its victims and serving as a reminder of the atrocities committed. They may explore themes of resilience, survival, and the indomitable spirit of those who endured unimaginable hardships.

Poems about the Holocaust can be deeply moving, haunting, and evoke a sense of collective responsibility to ensure that such horrors are never repeated.

Poems about Holocaust Visual Representation

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A Poor Christian Looks at the Ghetto

by Czeslaw Milosz

‘A Poor Christian Looks at the Ghetto’ by Czeslaw Milosz presents a description of the Warsaw Ghetto from the eyes of a “poor Christian.”

The poem is deeply connected to the Holocaust, both in its depiction of the destruction of the ghetto and the fear and uncertainty experienced by its inhabitants and in its exploration of the speaker's identity, waiting for the second coming of Jesus.

Bees build around red liver, Ants build around black bone. It has begun: the tearing, the trampling on silks, It has begun: the breaking of glass, wood, copper, nickel, silver, foam

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The Measures Taken

by Erich Fried

‘The Measures Taken’ by Erich Fried is a powerful piece about war and loss. The reader is asked to consider their concepts of good, evil, and who deserves to live throughout the poem.

The Holocaust is a historical event that looms large over 'The Measures Taken,' as the poem was written by an Austrian Jew who lived through the horrors of Nazi Germany. The poem reflects on how the Holocaust impacted individuals and communities and how its memory continues to shape the world today. The poem also touches on how the Holocaust was a uniquely devastating event and how it represents a failure of humanity to protect its most vulnerable members.

The lazy are slaughtered

the world grows industrious

The ugly are slaughtered

the world grows beautiful

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A Song on the End of the World

by Czeslaw Milosz

‘A Song on the End of the World’ by Czeslaw Milosz is an impactful poem that takes a paradoxical view of the apocalypse as a means of underscoring the surreality of facing cataclysm.

Milosz lived in Warsaw under Nazi occupation. His proximity led him to both see and hear many of the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand. Those experiences stayed with him throughout his life and although this poem is not his most explicit regarding the genocide it does still stem from its effects on Poland.

On the day the world ends

A bee circles a clover,

A fisherman mends a glimmering net.

Happy porpoises jump in the sea,

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Getting There

by Sylvia Plath

‘Getting There’ depicts Plath’s journey through suffering, leading to her revival from a troubled past. This revival, however, is rooted in oblivion.

The image of crammed trucks (used to transport Jews during the WWII) and war are prominent in this poem. And so is that of the speaker dragging her body through the length of the vehicle.

How far is it?

How far is it now?

The gigantic gorilla interior

Of the wheels move, they appall me —

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London is Full of Chickens on Electric Spits

by Peter Porter

‘London is Full of Chickens on Electric Spits’ by Peter Porter compares the way chickens are treated to conditions in Auschwitz.

While this part of the poem does not deal with the Holocaust directly, unlike the other parts of the poem, it does, nevertheless, draw an interesting comparison between the way that animals are treated and the events that occurred at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. This comparison is presented as a way to make the reader think about the way that animals bred for consumption are treated, holding the Holocaust up as an example of something terrible.

London is full of chickens on electric spits,

Cooking in windows where the public pass.

This, say the chickens, is their Auschwitz,

And all poultry eaters are psychopaths.

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Oranges and Lemons

by Sujata Bhatt

‘Oranges and Lemons’ explores a group of people’s relationship and engagement with history, revealing a shared reverence for its preservation.

Bhatt doesn't mention the Holocaust by name but anyone familiar with Anne Frank's story knows it ends with her death in a concentration camp. The speaker's visit instantly evokes in the reader the horrors of the genocide, its cruelty, tragedy, and death remain ever-present throughout the poem, lending its imagery and mood a greater gravity. Even the final line of the nursery rhyme might be interpreted as a chilling reminder of mortality during a dark moment in human history.

I was prepared for solitude, a floating

amputated quietness circling my wrists -

but not this song, not this

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The Butterfly

by Pavel Friedmann

In this heartbreaking poem, Friedmann writes about the last butterfly he saw and uses it as a symbol for loss and approaching death during the Holocaust.

Written inside the Terezín ghetto in 1942, this poem is directly tied to the Holocaust. Although the word is never used, the setting, tone, and context all point to life under Nazi rule. The speaker’s isolation, loss of beauty, and quiet goodbye to the butterfly reflect the fear and helplessness many experienced. Today, the poem is often read in remembrance events and Holocaust museums, making it a strong literary piece linked to this historical tragedy.

He was the last. Truly the last.

Such yellowness was bitter and blinding

Like the sun’s tear shattered on stone.

That was his true colour.

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Woodchucks

by Maxine Kumin

‘Woodchucks’ by Maxine Kumin is a metaphorical poem which uses the conceit of a farmer hunting woodchucks to uncover the murderous tendencies only a position of power can reveal in humans.

The Holocaust is not elaborated on in the poem. However, the several indirect and direct references to this event, added to Kumin's background, evidently show it inspired the entire poem. It is no coincidence that the poem begins and ends with the killing technique called "gassing." Jews, like these pests, were killed in gas chambers during the Holocaust.

The food from our mouths, I said, righteously thrilling

to the feel of the .22, the bullets' neat noses.

I, a lapsed pacifist fallen from grace

puffed with Darwinian pieties for killing,

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Lady Lazarus

by Sylvia Plath

This poem delves into death, rebirth, and the endurance of suffering, drawing parallels to the biblical figure of Lazarus.

Plath uses the Holocaust as a metaphor for her own struggles with mental illness and as a way of exploring themes of oppression, persecution, and power dynamics.

I have done it again.

One year in every ten

I manage it——

#10

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Fathers and Daughters

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Daddy

by Sylvia Plath

‘Daddy’ by Sylvia Plath uses emotional, and sometimes, painful metaphors to depict the poet’s opinion of her father and other men in her life.

The poem contains numerous references to the Holocaust and the atrocities committed during World War II. The speaker draws comparisons between her own experiences and those of the victims of the Holocaust, suggesting that her father's cruelty and abuse are a kind of psychological warfare.

You do not do, you do not do

Any more, black shoe

In which I have lived like a foot

For thirty years, poor and white,

#11

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Lullaby

by Stephen Dobyns

‘Lullaby’ by Stephen Dobyns is a poem about the passage of time, looking back on the last century and wondering what the next one will bring.

The holocaust is mentioned briefly as the poet wonders what future versions of a similar occurrence will take place. The poet is suggesting that history repeats and that people do not learn from mistakes.

The zero of a yawn eclipses your face,

feeling drowsy, eyelids heavy:

goodnight, goodnight, blow out the light,

the century is going to sleep.

#12

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We Live to Kill and Kill to Live

by Gabriel Okara

‘We Live to Kill and Kill to Live’ by Gabriel Okara is a poem that looks at humanities intrinsic relationship with war.

The Holocaust is mentioned in this poem as a way to show some of the worst things that humans have done in times of war. However, the poem does not discuss the Holocaust in great depth and instead moves on to discuss other atrocities that have taken place during wars.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki-bombs

Holocaust, Germany

Genocide, Bosnia Herzegovina, nuclear bombs!

Rwanda, Burundi, Genocide, fragmentation bombs.

#13

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Behaving Like a Jew

by Gerald Stern

‘Behaving Like a Jew’ by Gerald Stern is a lyric poem with elements of an elegy. It includes poet’s understanding of how suffering and death should be approached.

While it's certainly not mentioned by name, the Holocaust and other historically traumatic incidents inspired the poet's depiction of the Jewish man in this poem.

When I got there the dead opossum looked like

an enormous baby sleeping on the road.

It took me only a few seconds—just

#14

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More Light! More Light!

by Anthony Hecht

‘More Light! More Light!’ by Anthony Hecht what inspired by the poet’s experiences during World War II. It describes several horrific deaths, one and 16th-century England and three in Buchenwald during World War II.

Composed in the Tower before his execution

These moving verses, and being brought at that time

Painfully to the stake, submitted, declaring thus:

“I implore my God to witness that I have made no crime.”

#15

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My Grandmother’s Laughter

by Oriana Ivy

‘My Grandmother’s Laughter’ by Oriana Ivy utilizes the simple element of a blanket to showcase the trauma of the holocaust.

Home » Collection » Poems about Holocaust

15+ Must-Read Holocaust Poems

(15 to start, 17+ to explore)

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15+ Must-Read Holocaust Poems

(15 to start, 17+ to explore)

by Czeslaw Milosz

by Erich Fried

by Czeslaw Milosz

by Sylvia Plath

by Peter Porter

by Sujata Bhatt

by Pavel Friedmann

by Maxine Kumin

by Sylvia Plath

by Sylvia Plath

by Stephen Dobyns

by Gabriel Okara

by Gerald Stern

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