paying tribute to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. He does this by

portraying the history of the Jewish people. Yevtushenko also uses

various literary devices to heighten the sentiment of the poem.

The poem is told in the first person, by the author of the poem.

In the poem it is also apparent that he is addressing all Russian

citizens when he writes "O Russian people". In this manner Yevtushenko

is able to eulogize the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in front of a

wide audience. This technique also allows him to speak directly to the

Russian people and tell them of their wrongs at the end of the poem.

Through usage of the first person he is able to place himself in

the various situations of anti-Semitism in history. He takes us

from Egypt, to the cross; from the Dryfus affair to the pogroms; from

Anne Frank's dark room to the massacre of Babi Yar. Through all this

Yevtushenko proclaims that "I" was there. This gives the reader a

sense of being trapped in the middle of these

Therefore, this first stanza gives us the reason why he wrote the

In the next few stanzas sound plays a critical role. In the first

union of the Russian people". However, he then goes on to directly

"pounding", or the final explosion. The explosion creates a "silent"

a group of Jew-haters, but rather a country of people who feel for

repetition of the "s" sound. This sounds like air escaping from

that "I perish on the cross, and even now I bear the red marks of

anti-Semitism that began with the Christians is the same exact

rest of the poem. He also seems to hint at the fact that the

ticking of a time bomb. Immediately after this one reads of the

approaching in the "d" sound. The second line of the third stanza

anti-Semitism of Egypt remained in "her ancient days", but he insists

claims that the Internationale, or the Russian "union" song, will only

steep ravine is all, a rough memorial." He then goes on to devote the

be a Jew". Only when he is a Jew can he then go on to "call myself a

Some common words found in the essay are:
Babi Yar, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Yar Yevtushenko, Jew Jew, Internationale Russian, russian people, Anne Frank's, babi yar, poem poem, Babi Yar-, jewish victims holocaust, jewish people, people goes, jewish victims, addressing russian, rest poem, poem babi, victims holocaust,
Approximate Word count = 748
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)