Zog Nit Keynmol
Encyclopedia
Zog Nit Keyn Mol (also referred to as Partizaner Lid or "Partisan
song") is the name of a Yiddish
song written in 1943 by Hirsh Glick
, a young Jewish inmate of the Vilna Ghetto
. The song is considered one of the chief anthems of Holocaust survivors and is sung in memorial services around the world.
The title means "Never Say", and derives from the first line of the song, "Never say that you have reached the final road." During World War II
, "Zog Nit Keynmol" 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
.
Hirsch was inspired to write the song by news of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
.
The lyrics Glick wrote were later set to music by brothers Pokrass, Dmitri and Daniel. The music was actually written earlier than the lyrics, in 1935, for the song "Одесская Походная" (Odessa March Song), also known as "То не тучи - грозовые облака" ("Those aren't just clouds - they are storm clouds"), by Aleksey Surkov about the Russian Civil War
. That song was first performed by the well known Soviet singer Leonid Utyosov
.
In March 2011 the Israeli band Gevolt released a metal album AlefBase
which, among others, includes Zog Nit Keynmol.
translation
Never say this is the final road for you,
Though leaden skies may cover over days of blue.
As the hour that we longed for is so near,
Our step beats out the message: we are here!
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!
Original Yiddish
זאָג ניט קיין מאָל, אַז דו גייסט דעם לעצטן וועג,
כאָטש הימלען בלײַענע פֿאַרשטעלן בלויע טעג.
קומען וועט נאָך אונדזער אויסגעבענקטע שעה –
ס׳וועט אַ פּויק טאָן אונדזער טראָט: מיר זײַנען דאָ!
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
song") is the name of a Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
song written in 1943 by Hirsh Glick
Hirsh Glick
Hirsch Glick was a Jewish poet and partisan.Glick was born in Vilna in 1922. He began to write Yiddish poetry in his teens and became co-founder of Yungvald , a group of young Jewish poets...
, a young Jewish inmate of the Vilna Ghetto
Vilna Ghetto
The Vilna Ghetto or Vilnius Ghetto was a Jewish ghetto established by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius in the occupied Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , during the Holocaust in World War II...
. The song is considered one of the chief anthems of Holocaust survivors and is sung in memorial services around the world.
The title means "Never Say", and derives from the first line of the song, "Never say that you have reached the final road." During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, "Zog Nit Keynmol" was adopted by a number of Jewish partisan
Jewish partisans
Jewish partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the Jewish resistance movement against Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II....
groups operating in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. It became a symbol of resistance against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
.
Hirsch was inspired to write the song by news of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
.
The lyrics Glick wrote were later set to music by brothers Pokrass, Dmitri and Daniel. The music was actually written earlier than the lyrics, in 1935, for the song "Одесская Походная" (Odessa March Song), also known as "То не тучи - грозовые облака" ("Those aren't just clouds - they are storm clouds"), by Aleksey Surkov about the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. That song was first performed by the well known Soviet singer Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Osipovich Utyosov or Utesov ; real name Lazar Vaysbeyn or Weissbein , was a famous Soviet jazz singer and comic actor of jewish origin, who became the first pop singer to be awarded the prestigious title of People's Artist of the USSR .-Biography:Leonid Utyosov was brought up in Odessa...
.
In March 2011 the Israeli band Gevolt released a metal album AlefBase
AlefBase
AlefBase is the second album by the Israeli metal band Gevolt. Released on 25 March 2011, the album was a first full-length metal album in Yiddish language....
which, among others, includes Zog Nit Keynmol.
Lyrics sample
EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation
Never say this is the final road for you,
Though leaden skies may cover over days of blue.
As the hour that we longed for is so near,
Our step beats out the message: we are here!
Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
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!
Original Yiddish
זאָג ניט קיין מאָל, אַז דו גייסט דעם לעצטן וועג,
כאָטש הימלען בלײַענע פֿאַרשטעלן בלויע טעג.
קומען וועט נאָך אונדזער אויסגעבענקטע שעה –
ס׳וועט אַ פּויק טאָן אונדזער טראָט: מיר זײַנען דאָ!
Versions on Youtube
- Zog nit keynmol sung at Partisan fort
- Chava Alberstein's rendition
- Soap and Skin
- Paul Robeson sings "Zog Nit Keynmol," Moscow, 1949
- GEVOLT - Zog Nit Keyn Mol (Metal version)