Words are by Reuven Lifshutz (1918 – 1975), author of a collection of songs and poems that were written in the Warsaw ghetto and in a Displaced Persons camp in Munich. He survived the war and lived in Chicago. The melody is a popular street tune.
A good morning, people passing,
Throw us a crust of bread!
Then God will send his blessing;
And from want you will be shed.
I once had a father, mother,
Three pretty sisters so dear:
They’re gone with smoke and fire,
And I am left all alone here.
I play the barrel organ,
I play with courage and skill,
Tomorrow Treblinka may beckon,
Oh, there we’ll become an ash hill.
Our hunger is our torment,
With the dead the roads are paved,
Oh, Jews – you children of mercy,
One still wants to live out the day.
My voice the air disperses
From morning till late at night,
May the ghetto drown in our curses,
And with it those builders of blight
So I play the barrel organ,
Lessening our pain and distress,
For better than going to Treblinka
Is falling in battle and death.
A gut-morgn, libe mentshn!
Varft undz a shtikele broyt!
Derfar vet got aykh bentshn,
Nisht visn vet ir fun keyn noyt.
Gehat a tate-mame
Un sheyninke shvesterlekh dray;
Avek mitn roykh un flamen,
Geblibn bin ikh yetst aleyn.
lkh drey di katerinke
Un shpil haynt far aykh mit kurazsh,
Vayl morgn, kon zayn, in Treblinke
Vet vern fun undz a barg ash.
Der hunger iz a tsore
Mit toyte farzeyt iz der bruk;
Oy, yidn, bney-rakhmonim —
Es vilt zikh nokh lebn a tog.
Mayn kol di luft tseshmetert,
Fun morgn biz shpet in der nakht;
Farsholtn zol zayn dos geto,
Un di, vos hobn es oysgetrakht.
Men roydeft undz vi khayes,
Dos lebn iz vi a tehom.
Es vign zikh sharbns af tlies
Tsum tayvl, es shaynt nokh di zun!
Fun hertser broyzt a fayer:
Genug undz gekoylet vi shof —
Oy, yidn, nemt di “shpayers”
Un kumt, lomir makhn a sof!
Drey ikh di katerinke,
Farshpil undzere laydn un noyt,
Vayl eyder tsu geyn in Treblinke
Iz beser in kamf faln toyt.
אַ גוט־מאָרגן, ליבע מענטשן,
װאַרפֿט אונדז אַ שטיקעלע ברױט!
דערפֿאַר װעט גאָט אײַך בענטשן,
נישט װיסן װעט איר פֿון קײן נױט.
געהאַט אַ טאַטע־מאַמע
און שײנינקע שװעסטערלעך דרײַ;
אַװעק מיטן רױך און פֿלאַמען,
געבליבן בין איך יעצט אַלײן.
איך דרײ די קאַטערינקע
און שפּיל הײַנט פֿאַר אײַך מיט קוראַזש,
װײַל מאָרגן, קאָן זײַן, אין טרעבלינקע,
װעט װערן פֿון אונדז אַ באַרג אַש.
דער הונגער איז אַ צרה
מיט טױטע פֿאַרזײט איז דער ברוק;
אױ, ייִדן, בני־רחמנים —
עס װילט זיך נאָך לעבן אַ טאָג.
מײַן קול די לופֿט צעשמעטערט,
פֿון מאָרגן ביז שפּעט אין דער נאַכט;
פֿאַרשאָלטן זאָל זײַן דאָס געטאָ,
און די, װאָס האָבן עס אױסגעטראַכט.
מען רודפֿט אונדז װי חיות,
דאָס לעבן איז װי אין אַ תּהום.
עס װיגן זיך שאַרבנס אױף תּליות
צום טײַװל, — עס שײַנט נאָך די זון!
פֿון הערצער ברױזט אַ פֿײַער:
גענוג אונדז געקױלעט װי שאָף —
אױ, ייִדן, נעמט די „שפּײַערס“
און קומט, לאָמיר מאַכן אַ סוף!
דרײ איך די קאַטערינקע,
פֿאַרשפּיל אונדזערע לײדן און נױט,
װײַל אײדער צו גײן אין טרעבלינקע
איז בעסער אין קאַמף פֿאַלן טױט.
Song Title: Der Hoyfzinger Fun Varshever Geto
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.
