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May. 23, 2021 12:19 PM
Polish-Jewish poet Zuzanna Ginczanka wrote her last and most famous poem, commonly referred to as “Non Omnis Moriar,” (“Not all of me will die”), in 1943, as a last will and testament. It included testimony of the betrayal by her neighbors, who turned her over to the Germans during the Holocaust. Several months afterward, she was killed at age 27, her bright future cut short.
The poem, hand-written on a crumpled piece of paper, was passed to a friend, who saved it until the war ended. It was later passed on to another poet, who published it. Along with it being a literary work, it also served as evidence in the prosecution of those who had betrayed her to the Nazis.