The Rumbula massacre was a two-day (November 30, 1941 and December 8, 1941) killing of about 25,000 Jews in and on the way to Rumbula forest near Riga, by Nazi's, during the Holocaust of World War II.

 

This poem was written by Rev. Alex Jacob, following a memorial service hosted by Christians and Messianic Jews from the Rumbala Memorial Forest in Riga, Latvia, October 2011. The memorial site backs on to a main-line railway -- the sound of the passing trains lending themselves to some poignancy, during our times of silent prayer.

 

And the trains rumble by...

 

They took you from your home,

rounded you up like cattle

and forced you to the forest.

 

Here they took your life—evil extractors at work.

Bodies piling up to be swallowed up in the broken ground;

        And the trains rumble by

                And the trains  rumble by

                        And the trains rumble by

There are tears in my eyes,

as reflections,

        guilt,

                pain

                       and sadness collide,

There are tears in my eyes;

        And the trains rumble by

                And the trains rumble by

                       And the trains rumble by

There are tears in my eyes,

for I know one day the shofar will sound --

and these discarded dry bones

will heed the prophet’s call...

 

There are tears in my eyes

        And the trains rumble by………………………….