On this quiet day when trees are laden with snow we are without power
and through the sound of snowblowers I imagine I hear his voice from years ago
recalling that winter his mother became homesick for her parents and left Holland and returned to Leipzig.
The consequences were obvious when his arm raised and the serial number on his wrist was in full view.
He was a large man, made taller by the thick soles of orthopedic shoes. Pauses were drawn-out when he brought a trembling water glass to his lips.
We shared a first name, love of music and a birthday though he was older and born in the place that was home to Wagner and Mendelssohn.
“David, you must promise to not let them forget,” he said.
On this snow day I go to the window A rabbit is perched as still as a garden statue atop a drift. My breathing clouds the window. Hours without power, the house has grown chill.
His obituary recalled he emigrated when he was sixteen. He began selling candy to movie theaters. Through the Red Cross he later learned his musician parents were murdered in Auschwitz, his grandparents in Warsaw.
After the snowblowers have gone quiet the gray sky is like a granite lid placed upon a tomb. Flakes of snow are again falling.
I try to imagine spring, the sound of piano scales coming from an open window, bees talking to spring blossoms but imagination has gone dark. No longer able to hear voices beneath the snow, I can only wait for power to be restored and urge an unknown reader to accept this as meager
fulfillment of a promise.
________
This non-fiction piece will appear in David Arn’s forthcoming book This Whisper. He served as an adviser to Mr. Katz for many years, and they shared a strong bond. Mr. Katz gave frequent talks to schools in the Virginia Beach area.
David Arn is a singer, songwriter best known for his lyrical style. His music is streamed worldwide and has been featured on NPR stations, BBC Radio, and heard on Delta Airlines commercial flights.
He studied at Fairfield University, the MFA Program at the University of Virginia. He has published short fiction, articles for magazines. His story ‘On the Run from the Nazis’ was published in To Life: Stories of Courage and Survivalpublished by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater in 2002