For All Parents

For All Parents(Laura Weber) FOR ALL PARENTS

This poem is from a nursery rhyme ---I see the moon, and the moon sees me. God bless the moon and God bless me.

I wrote this story about all children who have suffered from any form of cruelty. The most outstanding known cruelty of all time is without any doubt the Holocaust.

In memory of the one million children who perished in the Holocaust.


Naomi lives in Tel Aviv in present day Israel. One morning her mother said to her, “after breakfast we are going to visit the Children’s Holocaust Museum.” Naomi knew about the Holocaust as her mother’s family and many of her other relatives and their children had been taken away from her a long time ago during the 2nd World War in Europe. Naomi knew why her mother sometimes had such a sad expression on her face and in her eyes, so she looked forward to paying the Museum a visit, for the first time. Israel had built the museum especially for the children, to honour them, as they must never be forgotten, “the lost children of Israel.”

That night Naomi could not sleep from what she had experienced at the Museum. She had entered with her mother through a double door into a large spacious darkened hall. They stepped onto a long balcony, which had a narrow walk way with a hand rail attached to the wall, so they could walk quite easily without light. When she looked up at the ceiling she saw that it was alight with a million shinning stars and in each star was a name. She put her hand more firmly on the rail for guidance so she could keep her eyes on the stars. In the background very soft music could be heard, and a beautiful voice called out the name of each lost child. She felt very sadden because every time her mother heard a family name she held onto Naomi’s hand more tightly.

As she lay in her bed, she could not stop thinking about the children. Naomi tossed and turned for hours, and eventually fell into a restless and fitful sleep.

Suddenly she was woken up by a soft glowing light like a silvery beam in her bedroom. In a sleepy drowsy voice, Naomi said, “Oh my, what is happening?”, rubbing her eyes furiously to see more clearly. A low sing-song voice answered from the beam, “It’s alright Naomi we are your friends and Mr. Moon, our Chief, could sense your distress, and would like you to come and see us on the moon. We are Angels stationed on the moon, and work for God to look after the children.” Naomi said, “From the moon?” The Angel said, “Yes, if you would like to come and see us, just step on the beam, and you will be transported straight up to the landing stage, where we will meet you and show you around.”

Naomi stepped on the moon beam, which almost felt like soft tissue paper, and in a flash had landed. There to greet her were millions of little moons dancing and bobbing up and down all over and singing songs of welcome. Naomi said “How can you all be moons and children at the same time, as I can see your faces in each moon?” All the little children moons chorused together, “each one of us is a child from a different part of the world. We were caught up in wars and taken from our parents in times of great violence in our lands. God did not want us to suffer anymore so he found a special place for us to call home. Mr. Moon offered to turn his home, the Moon, over to God who appointed Guardian Angels to watch over us.” The Angels then told Naomi that they serve in various jobs. “There is an Angel Paramedic unit who are always ready to receive the souls when they cross over from the earth as the children are very confused and have no idea what has happened to them and very tragically do not know where they are. The Angels with tender loving care wrap them in soft blankets woven of gossamer, light and silky as the wings of fairies in all the colours of the rainbow. There is a special ward they are taken to and tended by the nursing Angels who gradually bring the souls back to health.

Mr. Moon said to Naomi, “Look down on the earth and see the beautiful coloured lights that shine there, the lights are made by humans, and are not always good, but the light that shines here is God’s light. If you listen on a still night you might just hear the children singing at choir practice. It is the faintest of a whisper, perhaps just like a puff of wind.”

The Angel told Naomi that when she woke up in the morning to make sure to remember to rub her eyes, as they could only remain in her dreams.
When Naomi woke up it was morning and the sun was shinning in her bedroom. She called to her mother, whilst rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and said “I had such a lovely dream”, but when she tried to tell her the dream it remained inside of her. Instead she informed her mother that when she grew up she was going to be a doctor, or a nurse, or a teacher, or even a policeman so she can keep children safe from harm.


I wrote this story on behalf of an elderly lady I met several years ago, the only Holocaust survivor of her family and relatives. I was so struck by the expression of sorrow which showed in her face, I somehow found the courage to ask her what had happened in her life to cause such grief. Her reply left me devastated, as she said “I have only really lived half of my life, the other half I left behind in Europe. Eventually I arrived in Israel, and once there married an Israeli who had confidence in himself and realized and knew what freedom is and means. Unfortunately the Jewish people in Europe never had a taste of such luxury as we always had to be careful. I have had two children, a son and a daughter who I dearly love and cherish. As they started to grow up and ask questions, I was never able to give them the comfort they sought for, or the reassurance that the Holocaust would never happen to them. I felt so helpless simply because I was never able to console myself.

The American Army had rescued me from a camp at the point of death from starvation. I shall always be grateful for what they did for so many of us. I admire and respect them for the service and kindness they treated all the prisoners with. After the war America backed and helped Israel establish a country for the Jewish people of the world.

The state of Israel has given their people life and the right to live.