In Gratitude
by Max Mordechai Livni, Kiriat Tivon
There are facts in life that have to be repeated over and over again for those born later so that they incorporate them into their world view.
- As a young woman during the First
World War, my mother Hannchen Lieben, née Grünbaum, was a volunteer nurse in a
German military hospital, where she cared for wounded soldiers.
As a thank you, she was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944.
- My father, Prof. Dr. Eugen Lieben,
taught German to generations of pupils in our home town of Prague. He was also
murdered in Auschwitz in 1944.
A few weeks later, their son Rudolf – my brother – died in the Kaufering concentration camp complex in Upper Bavaria.
- My father’s older brother, Dr.
Salomon Lieben, ran a field hospital during the First World War, where he
treated Austrian and German wounded.
As a thank you, he was murdered in a Nazi killing center near Salzburg in 1942. His widow and three children were murdered in concentration camps.
- My father’s younger brother was
wounded in action near Isonzo in Italy during the First World War and spent months
in a military hospital.
As a thank you, he was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. His wife and two sons were also killed in concentration camps.
Notes:
In November
2022, Max Livni shared his prose poem "Über den Dank" with his
German-speaking friends. Memos e. V. published the German original with his
permission on this website on January 27, 2023, the third anniversary of the
death of his wife Chavah.
To mark the start of the YOUNG PEOPLE remember international youth encounter "From Prague to Prague", Memos has published the English version of Max Livni's prose poem "Über den Dank".