Song of the Lodz ghetto was written by lsaiah Shpigl (1906), short story writer, poet, essayist, teacher, who survived the Lodz ghetto and Auschwitz. Since 1950 he has been living in Israel where he resumed his writing career. The melody is by David Beigelman (1987-1944), a well known composer for the Yiddish theatre before the war. He died in the gas chambers of Treblinka.
Now close your little eyes,
Soon little birds will fly
In circles everywhere,
They’ll flutter by your bed.
Your head upon your hand,
The house in ash and sand!
We leave, my darling child,
In search of life . . .
God’s from the world withdrawn,
The black night fills each dawn,
She waits for us
With horror and with dread,
We both are standing here
With terror always near,
Not knowing where, oh, where
Our road has led.
Stripped naked we were thrown,
Chased from our loving home,
In darkest night
Into the open field.
In wind and hail and storm,
By fearsome currents borne,
Borne forth into the depths
Of the earth.
Makh tsu di eygelekh,
Ot k umen feygelekh
Un krayzn do arum
Tsukopns fun dayn vig.
Dos pekl in der hant,
Dos hoyz in ash un brand;
Mir lozn zikh, mayn kind,
Zukhn glik.
Di velt hot got farmakht.
Un umetum iz nakht,
Zi vart af undz
Mit shoyder un mil shrek.
Mir shteyen beyde do,
In shverer, shverer sho
Un veysn nit vuh in
S’firt der veg.
Men hot und, naket, bloyz
Faryogt fun undzer hoyz.
In fintsternish
Getribn undz in feld.
Un shturem, hogl, vint
Hot undz, bagleyt, mayn kind.
Bagleyt undz inem opgrunt
Fun der velt.
מאַך צו די אײגעלעך,
אָט קומען פֿײגעלעך
און קרײַזן דאָ אַרום,
צוקאָפּנס פֿון דײַן װיג.
דאָס פּעקל אין דער האַנט,
דאָס הױז אין אַש און בראַנד:
מיר לאָזן זיך, מײַן קינד,
זוכן גליק.
די װעלט האָט גאָט פֿאַרמאַכט,
און אומעטום איז נאַכט,
זי װאַרט אױף אונדז
מיט שױדער און מיט שרעק,
מיר שטײען בײדע דאָ
אין שװערער, שװערער שעה
און װײסן ניט װוּהין
ס׳פֿירט דער װעג.
מען האָט אונדז נאַקעט בלױז
פֿאַריאָגט פֿון אונדזער הױז,
אין פֿינצטערניש
געטריבן אונדז אין פֿעלד,
און שטורעם, האָגל, װינט
האָט אונדז באַגלײט, מײַן קינד,
באַגלײט אונדז אינעם אָפּגרונט
פֿון דער װעלט.
Song Title: Makh Tsu Di Eygelekh
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.
