We have reached the next phase of our Partisan Song project: Don’t Give Up Hope.
In April 2018 we will commemorate 75 years of the Partisan Poem, Zog Nit Keynmol, written by Hirsh Glik, aged 20, in the Vilna Ghetto in 1943.
This anthem is sung around the world at Yom Hashoah ceremonies on Holocaust Remembrance and Heroes Day.
Glik’s poem of hope, heroes and resistance is the legacy of the Partisans and the Survivors. We must continue to honour it!
It is still mostly sung in the original Yiddish with the result that many, especially the younger generation, do not understand the meaning, inspiration and context of the poem.
We have found the solution for this!
While there is no need to change the language we traditionally sing it in, we have created a site where we can read and study the words in our own language and understand Glik’s inspiration, and its context.
The poem is now available in 23 languages:
HEBREW, ENGLISH, LITHUANIAN, POLISH, BELARUSIAN, RUSSIAN, GERMAN, SPANISH, CZECH, DUTCH, ITALIAN, RUMANIAN, FRENCH, SWEDISH, PORTUGUESE, NORWEGIAN, JAPANESE, FINNISH, SWISS GERMAN, AFRIKAANS, GREEK, SLOVAKIAN AND THE ORIGINAL YIDDISH
Here is a message for educators and those who wish to embrace the legacy of the partisans and survivors :
Share the following with students and your contacts:
Study the poem with learners, recite it and ask them to do the same.
Help them to record and make a creative video of their rendition. Students are excellent at this.
Post it on social media – YouTube, Facebook, WordPress, Dropbox, WhatsApp, Google Drive etc. Set a deadline before 27 January 2018, the International Holocaust Remembrance day (Auschwitz Liberation Day).
Email the address of the posting to eli@elirab.com so that we can share the videos on that date.
Organise students and friends into groups to make a second video, singing the song in a language or languages of your choice, in time for posting before Yom Hashoah on 11 April 2018.
A reminder that there are a number of South African KehilaLinks pages which can be found on the JewishGen’s KehilaLinks project web site. (The KehilaLinks project provides a set of web pages which commemorate the places throughout the world where Jews have lived.)
The full list of South African KehilaLinks pages can be found at:
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Asia.html
The list now includes the following towns: Benoni, Bloemfontein De Aar, Cape Town, Germiston, Graaff Reinet, Grahamstown, Kwekwe (Que Que) in Zimbabwe, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Muizenberg, Oudtshoorn Pietersburg, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, Springs, Stellenbosch, Uniondale, Upington, and Witbank.
Eli Rabinowitz, who has created and maintains most of these KehilaLinks sites, is currently in the process of setting up the following new pages: Paarl, South Africa; Maputo, Mozambique; and Mauritius, Africa.
Eli invites you to send him your stories, memories, photos, family biographies, and articles on Jewish life in any of these places, or for any of the existing pages. As examples of the kind of material he is looking for, Eli suggests you refer to the following links:
For reference, the KehilaLinks project home page can be found at:
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/
and
Lions Shul is a special place
The Lions shul is Johannesburg’s longest standing synagogue, still a vibrant, active, and dynamic congregation. The 108 year old synagogue is in pristine condition and the chavershaft (solidarity/equality) is warm and family-oriented. The services are inspirational and the ambiance magnificent.
A video about the synagogue can be found at:
A description of the synagogue on the Johannnesburg KehilaLinks page can be found at:
The story of how Eli Rabinowitz finally found his first cousin, Zara Smushkovich, after being separated for over 35 years
We love hearing stories of families reunited through Geni. Recently, Eli Rabinowitz finally found his first cousin Zara Smushkovich after being separated for over 35 years! The discovery was made thanks to the help of a friendly person on Facebook who found the family tree on Geni.
Zoe Nit Keynmol was written as a poem in Yiddish by 20 year old Hirsh Glik in the Vilna ghetto in 1943.
The words are powerful and inspirational.
It is the anthem of the Survivors. Our goal is to teach it to the next generation of school students so that the legacy can continue!
I have found translations in 14 other languages with some variations within these languages – see Lyrics below.
You can recite it as a poem as it was originally written!
Here is Freidi Mrocki, a teacher at Shalom Aleichem College in Melbourne, reciting Aaron Kremer’s English translation.
Zog Nit Keynmol – The Poem
Here is an idea for your school students or youth group: Recite the poem, Zog Nit Keynmol, written by Hirsh Glik 20, in the Vilna ghetto in 1943. Do it in your own language! And then SHARE it with …
Here is a combination of Yiddish, Hebrew and English.
Here it is being sung by the Herzlia School Vocal Ensemble in Cape Town during an online class with five schools in the Former Soviet Union in Kiev, Chisinau, Vilnius, Kedainiai and Kalvarija.
For more languages and versions, click on the link:
Lyrics
Lyrics in Different Languages English Aaron Cremer’s version Lithuanian Žydų Partizanų Daina arba Partizanų Himnas Mes Esame Čia Niekad nesakykite kad jūs išeinate į paskutinį kelią… Tik nie…
We invite you, your school choir or group to sing or recite Zog Nit Keynmol, the Partisan Song. Please record it then share on YouTube, Facebook or Vimeo or send to me by Dropbox and I’ll pos…
Menu Zog Nit Keynmol – Main Page – scroll down The Legacy of the Partisan Song Hirsh Glik by Phillip Maisel Schools & students sing or recite the anthem, record it and post it on…