"Zog nit keyn mol" (Never Say; Yiddish: זאָג ניט קיין מאָל, [zɔg nit kɛjn mɔl]) sometimes "Zog nit keynmol" or "Partizaner lid" [Partisan Song]) is a Yiddish song considered one of the chief anthems of Holocaust survivors and is sung in memorial services around the world.
Glick's lyrics were set to music from a pre-war Soviet song written by Pokrass brothers, Dmitri and Daniil [ru], originally "Терская походная" ("Terek Cossacks' March Song"), later renamed into "Cossacks' Song", later titled by its first line as "То не тучи - грозовые облака" (Those aren't clouds but thunderclouds), lyrics by Alexey Surkov. The original song itself has a history, typical of the Soviet times. The song was written in fall 1936 and first performed in the 1937 Soviet documentary "Sons of the Working People" about the 1936 military exercise of the Red Army. The title of the film alludes at the Red Army oath of allegiance: "I, a son of the working people, <etc...>" ("Я, сын трудового народа...") The song title refers to "6-я казачья кавалерийская Кубанско-Терская Чонгарская дивизия имени Буденного".
The film was released in early May, but it was soon quietly removed from the distribution, supposedly because it featured marshals Tukhachevsky and Uborevich, repressed in late May 1937 (Case of the Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization), and they began to "vanish". At the same time, the November release of a disk in which Leonid Utyosov was performing this song was removed from the distribution and replaced in December with another one, in which the film, where song originated, was not mentioned. The title "Those aren't clouds..." was used in the 1939th release of Utyosov's performance of the song. The melody of the song has nothing with traditional Cossack songs, but rather based on typical Jewish harmonies.[3] Some find traces of Oyfn Pripetshik in it.[citation needed]
In the Soviet Union, the song was first publicly performed in 1949 by Paul Robeson under the title "The Song of the Warsaw Ghetto", sung part in English, part in Yiddish. The melody was immediately recognized by the listeners. (Probably this was an origin of the error in some sources which claim that the song was written in Warsaw Ghetto.) While the verse was translated into Russian in the Soviet Union, the song was never performed there again, neither in Russian, nor in Yiddish.[3]
Lyrics
Original lyrics
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Zog nit keyn mol, az du geyst dem letstn veg, Khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg. Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho, S'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zaynen do!
Fun grinem palmenland biz vaysn land fun shney, Mir kumen on mit undzer payn, mit undzer vey, Un vu gefaln s'iz a shprits fun undzer blut, Shprotsn vet dort undzer gvure, undzer mut!
S'vet di morgnzun bagildn undz dem haynt, Un der nekhtn vet farshvindn mit dem faynt, Nor oyb farzamen vet di zun in dem kayor – Vi a parol zol geyn dos lid fun dor tsu dor.
Dos lid geshribn iz mit blut, un nit mit blay, S'iz nit keyn lidl fun a foygl oyf der fray, Dos hot a folk tsvishn falndike vent Dos lid gezungen mit naganes in di hent.
To zog nit keyn mol, az du geyst dem letstn veg, Khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg. Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho – S'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zaynen do!
English translation
Never say that you're going your last way Although the skies filled with lead cover blue days Our promised hour will soon come Our marching steps ring out: 'We are here!'
From green lands of palm to lands with white snow We come with our pain and our woes And from where a spurt of our blood falls Will sprout our strength and our courage
Today the morning sun will accompany us And the night will fade away with the enemy But if the sun waits to rise Like a password this song will go from generation to generation
This song is written with blood and not with [pencil] lead It's not a tune sung by birds in the wild This song was sung by people amidst collapsing walls Sung with pistols[4] in their hands
So never say that you're going your last way Although the skies filled with lead cover blue days Our promised hour will soon come Our marching steps ring out: 'We are here'!
Siamo i ribelli della montagna [it] – Italian partisan song
References
^""Zog nit keyn mol" (Never Say) | Music of the Holocaust". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
^ abGilbert, Shirli (2008). "Buried Monuments: Yiddish Songs and Holocaust Memory". History Workshop Journal (66): 121. ISSN 1363-3554. JSTOR 25473010 – via JSTOR.
^ abNikolay Ovsyannikov, "От терской походной до еврейской партизанской", Aleph Magazine, March 7, 2021
^Note: The original text uses the term נאַגאַנ, nagan, referring to the Nagant M1895 pistol, produced in the Soviet Union and used in great numbers during World War II.
Fisher, Adam. An Everlasting Name: A Service for Remembering the Shoah. West Orange, NJ: Behrman House, 1991.
Kalisch, Shoshana and Barbara Meister. Yes, We Sang! Songs of the Ghettos and Concentration Camps. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.
External links
Music and the Holocaust - Zog Nit Keynmol with archive recording by Dr David Boder.
Oral history interview and recording of Zog Nit Keynmol from the Yiddish Book Center
January 08, 2023
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This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations May 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Zog nit keyn mol Never Say Yiddish זא ג ניט קיין מא ל zɔg nit kɛjn mɔl sometimes Zog nit keynmol or Partizaner lid Partisan Song is a Yiddish song considered one of the chief anthems of Holocaust survivors and is sung in memorial services around the world Zog nit keyn mol SongLanguageYiddishSongwriter s Hirsh GlickJewish partisans anthem in the Jewish partisans memorial in Giv ataym Israel Jewish partisans anthem in the Jewish partisans memorial in Bat Yam Contents 1 History 2 Lyrics 2 1 Original lyrics 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditThe lyrics of the song were written in 1943 by Hirsh Glick a young Jewish inmate of the Vilna Ghetto for the Vilna Jewish United Partisan Organization FPO 1 2 The title means Never Say and derives from the first line of the song Glick s lyrics were set to music from a pre war Soviet song written by Pokrass brothers Dmitri and Daniil ru originally Terskaya pohodnaya Terek Cossacks March Song later renamed into Cossacks Song later titled by its first line as To ne tuchi grozovye oblaka Those aren t clouds but thunderclouds lyrics by Alexey Surkov The original song itself has a history typical of the Soviet times The song was written in fall 1936 and first performed in the 1937 Soviet documentary Sons of the Working People about the 1936 military exercise of the Red Army The title of the film alludes at the Red Army oath of allegiance I a son of the working people lt etc gt Ya syn trudovogo naroda The song title refers to 6 ya kazachya kavalerijskaya Kubansko Terskaya Chongarskaya diviziya imeni Budennogo The film was released in early May but it was soon quietly removed from the distribution supposedly because it featured marshals Tukhachevsky and Uborevich repressed in late May 1937 Case of the Trotskyist Anti Soviet Military Organization and they began to vanish At the same time the November release of a disk in which Leonid Utyosov was performing this song was removed from the distribution and replaced in December with another one in which the film where song originated was not mentioned The title Those aren t clouds was used in the 1939th release of Utyosov s performance of the song The melody of the song has nothing with traditional Cossack songs but rather based on typical Jewish harmonies 3 Some find traces of Oyfn Pripetshik in it citation needed Glick was inspired to write the song by news of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 2 During World War II Zog nit keyn mol was adopted by a number of Jewish partisan groups operating in Eastern Europe It became a symbol of resistance against Nazi Germany s persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust In the Soviet Union the song was first publicly performed in 1949 by Paul Robeson under the title The Song of the Warsaw Ghetto sung part in English part in Yiddish The melody was immediately recognized by the listeners Probably this was an origin of the error in some sources which claim that the song was written in Warsaw Ghetto While the verse was translated into Russian in the Soviet Union the song was never performed there again neither in Russian nor in Yiddish 3 Lyrics EditOriginal lyrics Edit This section is a candidate to be copied to Wikisource If the section can be edited into encyclopedic content rather than merely a copy of the source text please do so and remove this message Otherwise you can help by formatting it per the Wikisource guidelines in preparation for the duplication Yiddish in transliteration Zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg Khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho S vet a poyk ton undzer trot mir zaynen do Fun grinem palmenland biz vaysn land fun shney Mir kumen on mit undzer payn mit undzer vey Un vu gefaln s iz a shprits fun undzer blut Shprotsn vet dort undzer gvure undzer mut S vet di morgnzun bagildn undz dem haynt Un der nekhtn vet farshvindn mit dem faynt Nor oyb farzamen vet di zun in dem kayor Vi a parol zol geyn dos lid fun dor tsu dor Dos lid geshribn iz mit blut un nit mit blay S iz nit keyn lidl fun a foygl oyf der fray Dos hot a folk tsvishn falndike vent Dos lid gezungen mit naganes in di hent To zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg Khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho S vet a poyk ton undzer trot mir zaynen do English translation Never say that you re going your last way Although the skies filled with lead cover blue days Our promised hour will soon come Our marching steps ring out We are here From green lands of palm to lands with white snow We come with our pain and our woes And from where a spurt of our blood falls Will sprout our strength and our courage Today the morning sun will accompany us And the night will fade away with the enemy But if the sun waits to rise Like a password this song will go from generation to generation This song is written with blood and not with pencil lead It s not a tune sung by birds in the wild This song was sung by people amidst collapsing walls Sung with pistols 4 in their hands So never say that you re going your last way Although the skies filled with lead cover blue days Our promised hour will soon come Our marching steps ring out We are here Original Yiddish זא ג ניט קיין מא ל א ז דו גייסט דעם לעצטן וועג כא טש הימלען בלײ ענע פ א רשטעלן בלויע טעג קומען וועט נא ך אונדזער אויסגעבענקטע שעה ס וועט א פ ויק טא ן אונדזער טרא ט מיר זײ נען דא פ ון גרינעם פ א למענלא נד ביז ווײ סן לא נד פ ון שניי מיר קומען א ן מיט אונדזער פ ײ ן מיט אונדזער וויי און ווו געפ א לן ס איז א שפ ריץ פ ון אונדזער בלוט שפ רא צן וועט דא רט אונדזער גב ורה אונדזער מוט ס וועט די מא רגנזון בא גילדן אונדז דעם הײ נט און דער נעכטן וועט פ א רשווינדן מיט דעם פ ײ נט נא ר אויב פ א רזא מען וועט די זון אין דעם קא יא ר ווי א פ א רא ל זא ל גיין דא ס ליד פ ון דור צו דור דא ס ליד געשריבן איז מיט בלוט און ניט מיט בלײ ס איז ניט קיין לידל פ ון א פ ויגל אויף דער פ רײ דא ס הא ט א פ א לק צווישן פ א לנדיקע ווענט דא ס ליד געזונגען מיט נא גא נעס אין די הענט טא זא ג ניט קיין מא ל א ז דו גייסט דעם לעצטן וועג כא טש הימלען בלײ ענע פ א רשטעלן בלויע טעג קומען וועט נא ך אונדזער אויסגעבענקטע שעה ס וועט א פ ויק טא ן אונדזער טרא ט מיר זײ נען דא See also EditBella ciao Italian partisan song Bandiera Rossa Italian revolutionary song Fischia il vento song associated with the Italian partisans Siamo i ribelli della montagna it Italian partisan songReferences Edit Zog nit keyn mol Never Say Music of the Holocaust Yad Vashem Retrieved 2022 02 03 a b Gilbert Shirli 2008 Buried Monuments Yiddish Songs and Holocaust Memory History Workshop Journal 66 121 ISSN 1363 3554 JSTOR 25473010 via JSTOR a b Nikolay Ovsyannikov Ot terskoj pohodnoj do evrejskoj partizanskoj Aleph Magazine March 7 2021 Note The original text uses the term נא גא נ nagan referring to the Nagant M1895 pistol produced in the Soviet Union and used in great numbers during World War II Fisher Adam An Everlasting Name A Service for Remembering the Shoah West Orange NJ Behrman House 1991 Kalisch Shoshana and Barbara Meister Yes We Sang Songs of the Ghettos and Concentration Camps New York Harper amp Row 1985 External links EditMusic and the Holocaust Zog Nit Keynmol with archive recording by Dr David Boder Zog Nit Keynmol Zemerl com זא ג נישט קיינמא ל Yiddish text Songs of the Holocaust permanent dead link Music of the Partisans Leaden Skies musical physical theater work Oral history interview and recording of Zog Nit Keynmol from the Yiddish Book Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Zog nit keyn mol amp oldid 1121306782, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
