Kalman Lis
What does this old gray Jew want from me
who comes to me to visit every night
and weighs me down with sadness and dark fears
with eyes black holes with tears
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.
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About Kalman Lis
Kalman Lis (1903-1942) was born in Kovel, Volhynia, in modern day Ukraine, to a family with rural roots. Lis studied in a traditional kheder, then in a Polish gymnazie, and in Vilnius and Warsaw high schools. He specialized in the care of Special Needs Children. From 1937 until his death, he was in charge of the Tsentos Institution for Defective Children in Otwock, near Warsaw. He began publishing in his school years. He moved to Warsaw in 1927. His first book in 1930 in Warsaw was Woliner Shliakhn, (“Roads of Volhinia”). His book, Ershte Internatsionale Antologie fun Yiddishe Lider, (“First International Anthology of Yiddish Modern Yiddish Poetry”) was to have been published in Warsaw, 1939 but never came out because of outbreak of WWII. In 1939 he won the I.L. Peretz Award for Young Poets from the Yiddish Pen Center in Warsaw. He was wounded in his feet during the bombing of his Childrens Institution on September 1, 1939. He recovered in a Warsaw hospital, then returned to the Otwock Childrens Institution. When it was attacked by Germans in 1942, he and some of the children ran away. His hiding place was found and he was shot and killed together with the children.
You can find more poetry by Kalman Lis on our companion site, Poetry in Hell.
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About Miryem (Miriam) Ulinover
Miriam Ulinover Miryem (Miriam) Ulinover née Hirshbein (1890-1944) was born in Łódź, educated traditionally and finished Folkshul. She was one of a very few Orthodox Jewish women poets in her time. As she was orphaned young, she was raised by her beloved Grandmother. Ulinover was a very popular poet in Łódź, who wrote about everyday things. She was published in newspapers and produced one book of poetry called Mayn Bobes Oytzer, (“My Grandmother’s Treasure”), Warsaw, 1922. That book was a favorite among Łódź readers. Shayevitch mentions his love of it in his final poem. Ulinover remained productive in the Łódź Ghetto and encouraged young writers in a salon at her home. She was transported to Auschwitz during the liquidation of the Łódź ghetto, and was gassed and incinerated a few days later.
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My Way through Life
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About Y L Kohn
Y L Kohn Y L Kohn (1905-1940) was born in Warsaw, and worked as a metal worker. He wrote children’s literature as well as poetry, mainly in publications of the Bund. He was killed in Russia in 1940.
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Łódź
M Goldshteyn
My friend the dreaming poet
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is full of sunset wine,
On his flute he sadly plays
the song of loss of better days and time -
About M Goldshteyn (Moyshe Bershling)
M Goldshteyn is a pseudonym for Moyshe Bershling (1900?-1941), who was born in Piaski. He later lived in Łódź and Bialystok, where he worked as a Jewish history teacher. He was an organizer in the Linke Poale-Tsiyon (leftist workers of Zion), and cofounded an organization devoted to the colonization of Birobidzhan. He wrote poems for numerous publications. He was arrested in Bialystok in July 1941, and was never seen again.
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About Shloyme (Shlomo) Burshteyn
Shloyme (Shlomo) Burshteyn (1920-1943) was born in Białystok, and began writing poetry at age 17. He was confined in the Białystok ghetto, where he was active in the underground. He later spent a short time in the Łódź Ghetto before being deported to the Bliżyn concentration camp where he was murdered in 1943.
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