This song was part of a revue Moyshe Halt Zikh, performed in the Vilno ghetto in September, 1943. Words are by Kasriel Broydo (see note about author in Geto). Composer unknown.
The hour strikes,
We’ve braved the night,
We’re looking towards tomorrow.
The heavens once again are bright.
New days will have no sorrows.
And even though it’s dark as pitch,
We’re waiting with endurance,
The day arrives, the hour strikes —
The end for guilty tyrants.
Es shlogt di sho,
Mir zaynen do,
Mir kukn in di vaytn.
S’vert der himl vider blo,
S’kumen naye tsaytn.
Un khotsh dervayl iz fintster-shtok.
Vartn mir geduldik,
Es kumt der tog, es shlogt di sho —
Dan falt der, ver s’iz shuldik.
עס שלאָגט די שעה,
מיר זײַנען דאָ,
מיר קוקן אין די װײַטן.
ס׳װערט דער הימל װידער בלאָ,
ס׳קומען נײַע צײַטן.
און כאָטש דערװײַל איז פֿינצטער־שטאָק,
װאַרטן מיר געדולדיק,
עס קומט דער טאָג, עס שלאָגט די שעה —
דאַן פֿאַלט דער, װער ס׳איז שולדיק.
Song Title: Es Shlogt Di Sho
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.
