Leah Svirski (Yiddish lyrics)
Anonymous (Music)
genug unterdrikt shoyn gevezn; Mit zaynen keyn knekht, mir fodern rekht, Mir veln es keynmol nit fargesn. Genug shoyn
gevezn farshklaft,
nidershlogn,
A sakh hot der
soyne genosn
fun undz shoyn,
Es zogn dokh
ale, az trusn
mir zaynen--
Oyf tantsn un
zingen nit
itster di tsayt,
Dreyst on
moyre faroys
lomir geyn,
Nor tomer der
soyne vet
shtarker fun undz zayn,
|
Too long have we been oppressed; We won't be slaves, our rights we will claim, And we will never, never forget. Too long we've
been slaves,
dejected, depressed,
The enemy has
gained much
profit from our work,
Everyone says
that we
Jews are cowards,
Now is no time
to dance
or to sing,
Fearless and
brave, we
march, forward on,
But should the
foe's strength
prove greater than our own,
|
English translation by Bret Werb
|
NOTE: Leah Svirski, from Svintsyan,
wrote the
Yiddish lyrics for this song in the spring of 1943, while a teenaged
prisoner
at Kaisiadorys, a Nazi labor camp near Kovno. The song encouraged
other prisoners to escape from the camp to join partisans operating in
nearby forests. Ms. Svirski survived the war and became Lila
Holzman
of Israel, assuming a leadership role as chairperson of the Svintsyan
landsmanschaft.
Her song, with music, is now on a CD, Rise Up and Fight, which
includes
additional partisan songs and is available from The United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Contact the Museum shop. |
Copyright © 2000 M S Rosenfeld