The Song Remains
דאָס ליד איז געבליבן
Welcome to our collection of Yiddish poems with English translations from Nazi German occupied Poland. We’ll be publishing one new poem per week into 2027, so be sure to subscribe to get free weekly updates.
Ber Shnaper (1906-1939) was born in Lwów (Lviv / Lvov / Lemberg), the son of a poor cobbler. He studied at the Vienna Hebrew Teachers Seminary. He wrote for a large number of periodicals, and also produced several monographs. Not much is known about his life.
His poetry volume Bloe Verter is available online.
Sources:
Today my life came to an end,
Ekh! To hell with such a life as I am living!
I saw blue children, little hands outstretched
begging something to be given…
1.
Right now – stream your brightest rays
melt brightness into my eyes
and pull me into white light
swimming into a light stream
Shmuel Vulman (1896-1941) was born in Kałuszyn, near Warsaw into a poor Hassidic family. He moved to Warsaw in 1917, and became active in the left Labour Zionists. He published poetry in many Yiddish journals, wrote a number of popular books, and also translated works from other languages into Yiddish.
When the Nazis invaded Poland, he escaped to Białystok which was under Soviet rule, and was persecuted for his prior critical attitude toward Bolshevism. When the Nazis invaded Russia, he moved to Kremenits (in modern Ukraine), where he was killed by the Nazis along with fellow writers Sh. Zaromb and Yerakhmiel Nayberg.
Vulman also published under the names: Y.-Sh. Prager, Sh.-Z. Vulf, L. (Leyzer) Felzner, Sh. V. Man, A. Masholnu, Sh. V., and Shin-vov, among others.
(more…)Hot nights
have drunk
our stammering
Naked we
rolled around on roses
Millions of songs
died then
Ber Horovits (1895-1942) was born in the rural village of Majdan, in the Carpathian Mountains of eastern Galicia. He received a traditional Jewish education at home, and also studied at a Ukrainian primary school, and graduated from the Polish gymnasium in Stanisławów.
He fought for the imperial Austro-Hungarian army during the First World War, and later studied medicine in Vienna. He was associated with a group of Yiddish authors in Vienna including Avrom Moyshe Fuks, Melech Ravitch, and Moyshe Zilburg.
He later moved to Kraków, where he translated and adapted plays for the Krakover Yidish Teater, and ultimately back to Stanisławów.
According to Melech Ravitch, “Ber Horowitz is one of the powerful Jewish poets. He sings loudly. His poetry is noisy, even the quiet tenor of his lyrics is noisy … He uses a language that is semi-gentile, Judeo-Slavic pidgin Yiddish. He is a splendid representative and this alone has a bit of a stir for him: What am I?”
He was also a gifted artist.
He was murdered by the Nazis at the age of forty-seven. According to the oral testimony of three Jewish survivors, he died on Hoshana Rabbah, 1942, with 9,000 Jews in Stanislawów. According to another source, he was murdered by local peasants in his birthplace of Majdan.
(more…)Close your doors, lock all up
mad dogs are howling in this dark city
Mad dogs are howling in this dark city
waking little children – making them cry
Those who long have been saddened
will even sadder be
Misha Troyanov, also known as Misza Trojanow (1906-1942) was a pen name used by Moyshe Troyanovski. He was born in Dąbrowa Górnicza near Będzin, and later lived in Łódź and Warsaw. He and had a religious education, and later worked as a tutor, business agent, and storehouse employee. His literary work first appeared in a number of Yiddish newspapers and journals based in Łódź and Warsaw. He was killed by the Nazis in Otwock on 19 August 1942.
(more…)It’s a mighty symphony
just one word – not more:
Over human soul
Be an Engineer.
When from my little village I was parted
My grandfather took me to the lake
the spring sun warmed the blue sky
He handed me a note when we said goodbye