Cúlra an Dáin

Publication Instance Details #1362

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes

Details

Human Rights Issues	War Racism/anti-Semitism/Sectarianism State Violence Genocide
War / Genocide Referenced	War: Second World War Genocide: Holocaust
Irish Context	WW II (Ireland)
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	- D.O'S. Páras 2002-2004
Notes	This poem is the explanation and context behind the extended poem, 'An Lá go dTáinig Siad'. The poet-speaker describes his own life in Paris, and his discovery that his apartment in Paris was once the living place of a Jewish girl, Sarah Polonowski, who was taken by the Nazis and never came home. The poet-speaker discusses this with his neighbour, who is sad at the reality of Sarah's life, but also notes that the SS men of the Nazis always treated them kindly. Disturbed by this information, the speaker reflects on the importance of Sarah, and his own connection to the war - his grandfather on his mother's side participated in the fighting. The speaker imagines Sarah's own life in their apartment building and in the apartment itself, imagining her broken shoes making their way up the spiral staircase. This poem gives important historical context to the poem 'An Lá go dTáinig Siad', which explores the events of the French occupation and World War II from Sarah's own perspective.