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Football and the Holocaust

Stuart Butler

Monday, January 24th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Football and the Holocaust

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 In the old days of my youth,
When I used to lie back in the dentist’s chair
Ater a medicinal whiff of gas,
With the drill resonating in my head,
And all manner of contrivances stuck in my mouth,
My mind sometimes used to drift away,
As I tried to escape the pain,
And I used to see all manner of things,
Although I never saw Eddie Hamel
Standing there beside me.
A tall good-looking gentleman
Was Eddie, with sleek black hair
And a number 7 on his back;
A New York Jewish gentleman,
Who just happened to play football,
Patrolling the Ajax right wing,
And sending in his accurate crosses,
In those happy flapper days of the Twenties,
Before the Second World War.
But because Eddie was Jewish,
He went on a sealed train to Birkenau;
Where he shared a bunk with Leon Greenman,
And that’s where they rubbed their backs together,
Sharing warmth on those cold winter nights,
Trying to stay alive for the Final Solution’s selection.
Eddie had been an Ajax first team regular,
A right regular agile winger,
Who could drop his shoulders, feint to the left
And then swerve with his body to the right,
That’s why he was selected,
He was intelligent, elusive, accurate and strong.
But on this nightmare selection day,
Eddie had an abscess in his mouth,
And the SS thought a swollen face
Meant an unfit, incapable worker,
So while Leon went to the right,
Eddie, right behind him,
Was ordered to the left,
And this gentle man,
Described by Leon as “terrifically nice”,
Was despatched to the gas chambers
And the Final Solution.
But we’ll remember you, Eddie,
Especially if any Feyenoord fans abuse the past,
Chanting their holocaust songs
And “We’re going on a Jew hunt”,
Then mimicking the hissing sound of escaping gas
When their team plays Ajax.
Don’t you just love The Beautiful Game?

© Stuart Butler

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/football-and-the-holocaust/