Yiddish Songs Of The Holocaust

Full title on release is written as 'Paul Zim sings Yiddish Songs of the Holocaust'. There is no writer credit for Track 12a. Total running time: 38:44. © 2000 © 1990 Paul Zim Productions, Inc. N.Y.C. Distributed by Sameach Music. "The music and songs of the Holocaust are a reflection of many deep emotions. One can experience the spirit, hope, and desperation of a tragic period in the history of the world. "Many thanks to the American Society for Yad Vashem for their generous support of this work. "These twelve selections are dedicated to the men, women, and children who loved Yiddish music. These songs will forever perpetuate their blessed memory." Track 1 (Our Town Burns) composed in 1938. Es Brent is one of the most often performed songs at a Holocaust commemoration. Gebirtig wrote most of his songs in the Cracow Ghetto, where he was shot by the Nazis in June of 1942. Track 2 (Under Your Starry Heaven) was written in the Vilna Ghetto. Brudno himself perished in a concentration camp. Track 3 (Children): although she suffer the anguish of losing her own children, who perished in the Holocaust, this woman lovingly mothers these little children and wants to spare them any suffering. She wants their lives to be happy and carefree. Track 4 (Hymn Of Youth) was dedicated to the youth club in the Vilna Ghetto. It was sung whenever they assembled. Track 5 (Under The Little Green Polish Tree): Papiernikov was one of the pioneers of Yiddish poetry in Israel. Borin in Warsaw, he settled in Israel in 1924. Kraus is a survivor or Bergen-BelsenTrack 6 (Springtime) was written in the Vilna Ghetto, following the death of Kaczerginski's wife in 1943. The song was first introduced in a theatre revue. It was sung in the ghettos and concentration camps. Brudno died in a concentration camp. Track 7 (Bialystocker Streets): the Bialystocker streets are remembered with love and pain. Gone forever are those streets where Jews lived and worked in poverty, with little hope for the future. Track 8 (Close Your Little Eyes) Words written in the Lodz Ghetto. Track 9 (Drowsing Birds) was written in the Vilna Ghetto. Track 10 (A Jewish Child) was written after the slaughter of children in the ghettos and concentration camps in Lithuania in 1943. The author was deported to the Stutthof concentration camp. She survived and thank G-d lives in New York. Track 11 (Rivkele, The Shabbath One) was inspired by an occurrence in the Bialystock Ghetto in 1942 when 5,000 Jews were shot by Nazis. Women, whose husbands were killed on that Shabbath Day in July of 1942, were called "Shabbesdike" (the Shabbath ones). Track 12a (I Believe) is the only non-Yiddish numbers on this recording and comes from our prayer book and one of the 13 principles of faith,. It was a prayer sung by the Jews as they were taken to their deaths. Track 12b (Never Say) was written in the Vilna Ghetto, and became an anthem of the underground resistance movement. It later spread to other Ghettos. Track 13c (The Jewish People Live) which concludes this medley on an optimistic notes, was written after the Holocaust and was sung in the Displaced Persons camp in Europe. A song that calls on all Jewish people to come and build in Israel. After death and destruction the Jewish people have once again survived. They have wings again and strength again. Jewish life is eternal.