Restoration

In your eyes, I can see
Reflections of your unjust captivity
In your voice, I can hear
Reverberations of lifeʼs dreams lost to fear
In your hand, I can feel
Trembling of a heart yearning to heal
You did not lose hope
Held onto the rope
Then the angels pulled you through
To a place thatʼs safe and true

Reaching out, from within
Separating what will be from what has been
Hand, grasping hand
Carry Loveʼs command
Silent cries, of despair
Echo in our shadows everywhere
Time and space collide
Seasons coincide
Healing light comes piercing through
Restoration of the truth


Norbert Abe Stachel

Norbert is the youngest child of his dearly departed parents Luba and Felix Stachel, who were Jewish Holocaust Survivors. His parents, along with his mother's mother Raschel were survivors that emigrated to the USA in 1949. His older sister Telsa was born in a German DP camp in 1945 and also came with his parents and grandmother through Ellis Island in 1949 to the USA. His older brother Richard and I were both born in California in 1952 and 1961, respectively. His father and his maternal grandmother were both Partisans and knew each other. At a certain point his father's Partisan group was absorbed into the red army, and his father was designated a captain. His mother and maternal grandmother successfully escaped the Misk Ghetto. His maternal grandfather Isaac was killed during that escape. His father's mother was killed near L'vov, and so were his father's first wife and three young children. His maternal grandmother later on introduced his mother to him. The Allied forces sent his parents and maternal grandmother to a DP camp called Bad Salz Schlirf, and his parents married in the DP camp and later on his sister was born.