This song was sung by the deported Jews of Cracow in Miedzrych Podiaska and in the Bochnia ghetto in 1941.
Author and composer unknown.
I don’t want to give a thought
To what I’ve lived through, what I sought,
Since from my home I went away
My darkest memories stay night and day.
The somber days, the dreary ways,
They rob me of my warm response,
Sometimes at night, no one in sight
To my mother in dreams my cry resounds:
Mother, mother, kind and mild,
Send a blessing for your child;
If God will give
Good health, we’ll live,
We’ll meet in a little while.
I recall how it all took place,
That last day had a pleasant pace.
There my mother stood occupied,
My youngest sister flies inside –
On the street she heard the news
That registration is the command,
That all young men up to thirty-five
Must in the labor task force stand.
Mother, mother, farewellI say,
I must leave you, go away.
If God will give
Good health, we’ll live,
See each other soon, I pray.
Ikh vil nit nemen nokh in akht
Vos ikh hob letstns mitgemakht,
Zayt ikh bin fun der heym avek.
Di tunkele gedanken, zey nemen keyn ek.
Di tribe teg, der shverer veg,
Zey roybn bay mir dos letste gefil.
Eyn mol bay nakht, ven ikh shtil keyner vakht
Tsu mayn mamen in kholem veyn ikh shtil:
Mame, mame, nokh atsind,
Gib a brokhe tsu dayn kind.
Az got vet gebn
Gezunt un lebn
Veln mir zikh zen gezunt.
Ikh gedenk vos iz demolt geven,
Eyn tog der vayser herlekh un sheyn,
Un mayn mame iz bay der kikh farnumen,
Di shvester, di kleyne, iz arayngekumen.
Zi hot gehert a nayes haynt af der gas
Az morgn fri vet a registratsye zayn,
As yunge mener biz finf un draysik yor
Muzn morgn baym arbetsamt shteyn.
Mame, mame blayb gezunt.
Avek fun dir muz ikh atsind.
Az got vet gebn
Gezunt un lebn
Veln mir zikh zen gezunt.
איך װיל נישט נעמען נאָך אין אַכט
װאָס איך האָב לעצטנס מיטגעמאַכט
זײַט איך בין פֿון דער הײם אַװעק.
די טונקעלע געדאַנקען, זײ נעמען קײן עק.
די טריבע טעג, דער שװערער װעג,
זײ רױבן בײַ מיר דאָס לעצטע געפֿיל.
אײן מאָל בײַ נאַכט, װען קײנער װאַכט,
צו מײַן מאַמען אין חלום װײן איך שטיל:
מאַמע, מאַמע, נאָך אַצינד,
גיב אַ ברכה צו דײַן קינד.
אַז גאָט װעט געבן
געזונט און לעבן
װעלן מיר זיך זען געזונט.
איך געדענק װאָס איז דעמאָלט געװען,
אײן טאָג דער װײַסער הערלעך און שײן,
און מײַן מאַמע איז בײַ דער קיך פֿאַרנומען.
די שװעסטער, די קלײנע, איז אַרײַנגעקומען.
זי האָט געהערט אַ נײַעס הײַנט אױף דער גאַס
אַז מאָרגן פֿרי װעט אַ רעגיסטראַציע זײַן,
אַז יונגע מענער ביז פֿינף און דרײַסיק יאָר
מוזן מאָרגן בײַם אַרבעטסאַמט שטײן.
מאַמע, מאַמע, בלײַב געזונט.
אַװעק פֿון דיר מוז איך אַצינד.
אַז גאָט װעט געבן
געזונט און לעבן
װעלן מיר זיך זען געזונט.
Song Title: Gib A Brokhe Tsu Dayn Kind
Compiled by sisters Malke Gottleib and Chana Mlotek, this collection of 40 songs, issued on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, reflects the suffering, despair, longing, as well as the strength, hope and courage that led the last remnant of enfeebled Jews to take up arms against the mammoth Nazi war-machine. Save for five songs, this compilation comprises songs that were actually written or sung in the ghettos and concentration camps. Four exceptions written after the war: “Babi Yar,” “Moyshelekh un Shloymelekh,” “Kadish,” and “Mayn mame hot gevolt zayn oyf mayn khasene” are often presented at commemorative gatherings and were therefore included. The fifth song “Am Yisroel Khay” was written in a D.P. camp and is an affirmation of the will of the survivors to build new lives for themselves, holding high their belief in the endurance of the Jewish people. To enable readers and singers not conversant with the Yiddish alphabet to utilize this collection, We Are Here! Songs of the Holocaust provides parallel transliterations and singable English translations by Roslyn Bresnick Perry.
