LYRICS OF THE SONGS
Zog nit keyn mol:
Never say that there is only death for you,
Though leaden skies may be concealing days of blue.
Because the hour we have hungered for is near,
Beneath our tread the earth shall tremble: we are here!
From lands so green with palms to lands all white with snow.
We shall be coming with our anguish and our woe,
And where a spurt of our blood fell on the earth,
There our courage and our spirit have rebirth!
The early morning sun will brighten our day,
And yesterday with our foe will fade away,
But if the sun delays and in the east remains,
This song as motto generations must remain.
This song was written with our blood and not with lead,
It's not a little tune that birds sing overhead,
This song a people sang amid collapsing walls,
With pistols in hand they heeded to the call.
So never say that there is only death for you,
Though leaden skies may be concealing days of blue.
Because the hour we have hungered for is near,
Beneath our tread the earth shall tremble: we are here!
Nitsokhn Lid:
The end will soon arrive,
The end of suffering and of pain.
You Germans will beat your chests, saying “I have sinned,”
And you will gnash your teeth
When you see what evil was done to us.
Now clink glass after shot glass
And grab your young wife Rayzel
Go, join the dance floor, and have a little twirl
Because you will have your fill of drinking,
The liquor will keep flowing
And we’re going [to dance] a Jewish Bulgar
Now come and be joyful
And have another drink --
Because those German murderers
Will be out of our lives forever --
This Soviet land
With its Stalinist hand
Will show what it can.
Drink yet another L’chaim
For the Red Army
And give a toast to them all
That they should be healthy and well
And toast the comrade Stalin
May he have many years before him
Because in the whole wide world
There is no other like him
This Soviet land
With its Stalinist hand
Will show what it can.
Drink yet another L’Chaim
For the Red Army
And give a toast to them all
That they should be healthy and well
And toast the comrade Stalin
May he have many years before him
Because there is no one in the world that compares --
There is no one else like him!
Mein Kommandant:
Somewhere the enemy
Lies hidden like a beast
The Mauser in my hand is alert
But suddenly - the Gestapo -
Leading our Commandant in chains
Through the darkness
Night in the Ghetto
Was torn by lightning
"Beware!" shrieks a buidling, a wall
Faithful comrades
Freed from chains
Vanished with the Commandant
Night has flown by
Death hovered before us
The Ghetto is shaken as with fever"
Restless the Ghetto
As Gestapo threatens:
"Your commandant, or Death!"
Itzik then spoke up -
Words that struck like lightning
"I do not want that because of me
Your lives are to be put in the hands of the foe..."
Proudly to his death went our Commandant!
Again, somewhere the enemy
Lurks like a beast;
The Mauser is alert in my hand
No, my Mauser,
Be you the liberator
Be you my Commandant now.
Shtil Di Nacht:
Silence, the night is all be-starred
And the frost burned strong.
Do you remember when I taught you
To hold a machine-gun in your hands.
A lass, a fur jacket and a beret,
Holding a pistol tight in her hand,
A lass with a velvet face
Watches over the enemy's caravan.
Aimed, fired and - hit,
With her dear little pistol,
She stopped a car - a nice one full of arms -
With one bullet.
At daybreak, she crawled out of the woods
With snow garlands on her hair,
Encouraged by the precious little victory
For our new, free generation.
Shmaryahu (Shmerke) Kaczerginsk:
Quiet, quiet, let's be silent,
Dead are growing here
They were planted by the tyrant
See their bloom appear.
All the roads lead to Ponar now.
There are no roads back
And our father too has vanished,
And with him our luck.
Still, my child, don't cry, my jewel
Tears no help commands
Our pain callous people
Never understand
Seas and oceans have their order
Prison also has its border
Our torment is endless
Is endless
Spring has come, the earth receives her -
But to us brings fall.
And the day is filled with flowers -
To us darkness calls.
Autumn leaves with gold are softened. -
In us grow deep scars,
And a mother somewhere orphaned -
Her child - in Ponar.
Now the river too is prisoner
Is enmeshed in pain
While the blocks of ice tear through her,
To the ocean strain.
Still, things frozen melt, remember,
And cold winds to warmth surrender
Future bring a smile
So calls your child,
So calls your child.
Quiet quiet, wells grow stronger
Deep within our hearts,
Till the gates are there no longer,
No sound must impart.
Child, rejoice not, it's your smiling
That is not allowed
Let the foe encounter springtime
As an autumn cloud.
Let the well flow gently onward
Silent be and dream.
Coming freedom brings your father,
Slumber, child serene.
As the river liberated,
Springtime green is celebrated
Kindle freedom's light,
It is your right.
It is your right!