HUNGARIAN writer Csilla Toldy, who lives in Rostrevor, Co Down, has created a moving video poem called “Here I Stand” for Holocaust Memorial Day, Northern Ireland.
Part of her research involved taking her mother on a visit to Auschwitz.
Csilla’s mother was a witness to what happened on the streets of Budapest when Jews were deported to the death camps.
Her childhood friend and also a family doctor were among those taken from the streets.
Some 400,000 people were deported from Hungary within just a period of three months.
Csilla hopes that her video poem (commissioned by The Executive Office’s Holocaust Public Artwork Commission) can be part of the ongoing process of educating people about the Holocaust of 76 years ago.
"Here I Stand” is based on a story of a survivor of Auschwitz, Ivor Perl, who was only 11 years old when he was deported with his family.
His mother told him to join the other queue where his older brother was standing, saving his life.
The poem is voiced by the mother (Sinead Lunny) and the boy as an old man looking back (Jason Benson).
The visual elements of the film poem are rails representing deportation, the image of the last station in Auschwitz, and the names and faces of the deported that are listed on Holocaust memorials in Budapest and Paris and in Yad Vashem.
It has “stanzas breaks” in the form of quotes from survivors and one from the Bible, which represents the turning point from death to birth, or the liberation.
Csilla said: ``I wanted to pay tribute to the millions of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in this, perhaps last, 'just' war.’’
Thus, the film ends with hope and the images of survivors; a memorial tree comes to life.
The music was arranged by Michael McGlynn and performed by Anúna (Miserere Mei Deus). Camera work was provided by Alistair Livingstone, Andras David and Ferenc Komjati and the sound and the editing by Tom McFarland.
The film poem will be launched today on Holocaust Memorial Day on The Executive Office Facebook page and other social media outlets.
:::
Here I Stand (Csilla Toldy)
There are no words
but names we have -
a choice: a right or left
“go with your brother” -
To lose your protecting
warmth around me
but feel it, no matter
in every hour of my life
and I know to never forget,
to never forget.
I’m standing here
at your feet, mother
feel your lips on my hair
your arms around me
“go with your brother”
and feel them, no matter
and I know to never forget
but find it in the eyes
of others, the humans
who brought light
so that I live and never forget.
