Translation of Yitzhak Lamdan's Diaries

Diary 2 continued (January - March 1916)

Copyright © 2026 Howard I. Schwartz, PhD

Yitzhak Lamdan's second notebook (Diary 2) continues into 1916 and its translation follows below. You can return to his earlier entries from 1914-1915, the overview, the concise summaries or the interpretive summaries of the diary entries.

Diary 1 (June 1914 - September 1914) | Diary 2 (July - December 1915) | (January - March 1916) below

January - March 1916

January 1916
January 3, 1916, (Hubyn Pershyi)

January 1916

[January 3, 1916], Monday night, 28th of [the month of] Tevet, 5676, in the terrible period, in the village of Hubyn [Pershyi]

It has been a week and more that I didn’t write anything in my diary, and there are in fact days like these that I had much to write about my state of mind. But for many reasons I didn’t write anything.

In fact since last week a change occurred in my state of mind related to my adolescent feelings. In my earlier entries, I wrote about my youthful feelings that were bursting forth, despite life’s difficulties and their [the youth feeling’s] secondary importance, – they tried to breakout and demand their due, – and in several places, I mentioned some victories of theirs… but now different, different is my state of mind, especially the recent several days. A different spirit has entered. I truly don’t know if this is an artefact of current challenging circumstances or not: – all the feelings of adolescence in my heart were annihilated, extinguished, swept away; finished are all the delights of my youth. I began to relate with disdain and plain inner disgust at all forms of youth and passion… I felt a special inner valor standing above such inconsequential matters. Simply put I became someone else. The combined diary entries dealing with my relationship to Z. B., will remain for me like a mark of disgrace and a souvenir of transgression (note the rhyme), since I wrote them in excessive haste and gave them a place for them in the diary and in my heart, if truly but for a few days. But never will I forgive myself for this rashness. Now I don’t feel anything towards such matters. Related to this, I am truly able to recite the words of my poem, “In a Foreign Country.”^[116a]

[106] My spirit and my thoughts – are pulled now in a different direction: to my parents and all the beloved members of our family. I have strong intense longings for them. And my words and thoughts are only for them every day. My hair bristles, intense despair and terrible worry attacks me when remembering “everything” of ours. There is no home, no possessions, no nothing – but nonetheless I would soon renounce all this, happily, if only this was a sacrifice and all of us remained alive, whole and healthy and could be together. Aha. When will that day arrive? Someone comes with a rumor on his tongue: that there is hope for peace. And the heart is encouraged a little, dreams and hope grow in you and overcome you, and they stand up to you, and silently try to console you and stir you up… and the heart tries to be encouraged and to hope…

Woe, our Father in heaven! Have mercy already on your world and your creatures!...

Read the interpretive summary or return to the top of the page.

Notes

[116a] [Translator’s Comment:] See the first mention of the poem, Nov. 2, 1915 and note 89 there. [HS] ↩

Translated by Howard I. Schwartz
Updated: November 2025
Copyright © 2025 Howard I. Schwartz, PhD
Webpage Design by Howard I. Schwartz
Want to search for more information: JewishGen Home Page
Want to look at other Town pages: KehilaLinks Home Page

This page is hosted at no cost to the public by JewishGen, Inc., a non-profit corporation. If it has been useful to you, or if you are moved by the effort to preserve the memory of our lost communities, your JewishGen-erosity would be deeply appreciated.