This is How the Holocaust Began

This is How the Holocaust Began
Emily Rosen

Grandma took me to the museum
We saw dinosaurs
or mummies
or 17th century costumes
or pictures by Turnbull
I was nine
or twelve
or six

Outside,
a trillion steps down
Grandma gave the Good Humor man
a nickel
He gave me a chocolate pop.

Right near,
right near the Good Humor man
the newspaper wailed,
“Hitler invades Poland!”

“What’s Poland?” I asked

Grandma sat on the steps
of the museum
and pulled a picture
from her wallet,
a little girl rolling in the grass

“That’s Poland,” she said.

***

Since 2000 Emily Rosen has been teaching a memoir-writing workshop in Boca Raton Florida, "Memories, Milestones and Memoirs." A background in journalism, education and mental health counseling, for over 20 years she has had a column in local papers, "Everything's Coming Up Rosen." For over 17 years she has been a volunteer leader of mental health support groups. She has published two anthologies of stories from her classes - "Memories, Milestones and Memoirs: Selections From A Writing Workshop.