The Song Remains - דאָס ליד איז געבליבן - An anthology of Yiddish poems with English translations from the Nazi German occupation of Poland

The Song Remains

People of the Warsaw Ghetto merged with a map of the Nazi occupation of Poland

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.

A Little Orphan Sings

Yisroel Shtern

Night senses this in sleep:

the streets cease to lament
their desolation;
a lad sings.
(more…)
A Little Orphan Laughs

Yisroel Shtern

A little orphan in tattered clothes laughs,
takes fright and races through streets and alleyways.

He stole something.
So he’s being chased.
(more…)
Good People

Yisroel Shtern

The world passes through their eyes
as summer passes through fields.
Just as the earth is taut with becoming,
in their word, progress is primed.
(more…)
I’m Not Envious

Yisroel Shtern

I’m not envious of anyone,
save the song of the scythe
eventide in the countryside…

I’m not envious of anyone,
save the fathomless music
of the silence
that chases the path,
the robust and wending path
of the roots
of a tree.
(more…)
A Phrase About Man in an Old Holy Book

Yisroel Shtern

Though Springtime, there was rain and snow,
and above the columns of night
grief clambered like a cat and terrorized all the roads.
I sat alone, leafing through an old holy book.
(more…)
About Yisroel Shtern
Yisroel Shtern (1894-1942) was born in Ostrołęka (Ostrolenke), educated in yeshivas, and became a follower of the Mussar movement. After being imprisoned during the First World War, he lived in Warsaw, where he ultimately perished in the Ghetto in 1942. He published poems in many literary journals, and became known as one of the most important Yiddish poets in the period between the two world wars. Like so many others, his unpublished work was lost when the Ghetto was destroyed.

Sources:
- The Yisroel Shtern Project
- Congress for Jewish Culture
My Guest

Chaim Semiatitski (Khayim Semiatitsky)

On the street
the trodden snow lies.
Its countenance is pale
and it cries.

So I’ll invite the snow
into my abode
to be a guest of mine.

Who’d dare tread
with muddied boots
upon a guest of mine?

Translated by Miri Koral
(more…)
How Everything Here Has Changed

Yakov Shudrikh

How everything here has changed, the color transformed.
How lovely my city is, all spiffed up and adorned.
The red flags flutter down nearly to the ground
and for me every weekday is cause for celebration.
(more…)
On a Wooden Bench

Moyshe Shimel (Maurycy Szymel)

Here on the wooden bench
is where we’ll wait for the sun to set.
As we waited a thousand years past.
It will certainly arrive. It has never fooled us yet.
(more…)
With the Night

Yakov Shudrikh

With the night my silky dreams dissolved.
With the night my quiet singing stopped.
With the day, my poem arrived swimming
on the storm with a fierce echoing sound.
(more…)