“Farges dem tsar” Performed by Sara Nomberg-Przytyk

Farges dem tsar/Forget Your Sorrows
Music by Johannes Strauss ll (1804 – 1849), sung by Sara Nomberg – Przytyk
Recorded by Wolf Krakowski, Way’s Mills, Quebec, Canada, 1986

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

For the next three weeks Yiddish Song of the Week will feature field recordings of the singer Sara Nomberg-Przytyk, videotaped by Yiddish singer, songwriter and musican Wolf Krakowski in 1986. Click here for Krakowski’s reminiscences about about Nomberg-Przytyk. This week we present “Farges dem tsar” [“Forget Your Sorrows”].

Nomberg-Przytyk was born in Lublin, September 10, 1921 and died in Israel in 1996. She is known for her Holocaust memoirs, translated into English as Auschwitz: True Tales From a Grotesque Land. In Auschwitz she was an attendant in Dr. Mengele’s hospital and worked with him on a daily basis.

For a more detailed article in English on her life click here; an article on her life and song in Yiddish is here.

As she says to introduce this song, she learned Farges  dem tsar from her friend who was in the Vilbig (Vilner yidishe bildungs-gezelshaft) Vilna Jewish Education Society) chorus in Vilna which was conducted by Avrom Sliep (1884 – 1942)

Vilbig Choir, 1929, E. Cejtlin/YIVO Archives

The video includes a translation, but the second line should be translated as “Don’t look how the skies are black”.

TRANSLITERATION

Oysgelernt di lid – S’iz oykhet a lid Farges dem tsar fun Vilbig. Un di ale lider hob ikh gehert fun mayns a khaverte, mit velkher ikh bin gezitsn tsuzamen far der krig in tfise far politishe teytikaytn.  

Zi’s geven a mitgliderin fun dem khor un zi hot di lid far undz gezingen.

Farges dem tsar, der tsar fargeyt.
Mir darfn leybn nor far freyd.
Bafrayt zikh ale glaykh
Dos lebn iz far aykh.

Nisht kuk vos s’iz der himl shvarts.
Di zun geyt oyf, derfray dis harts.
un brengt indz ale mut
in der royshnde yunge blut.

Kuk zikh um sara prakht.
Alts arum iz shtil fartrakht
zingt mayn harts gur alayn.
Akh vi sheyn iz dus leybn vi sheyn.

Zey vi se blit, Zey vi es glit.
Zol zhe klingen indzer lid.
Iber berg, iber tol
Lebn mir nor ayn mul, nor ayn mul.

The Israeli Yiddish song collector and researcher Meir Noy included this song in one of his notebooks of Yiddish songs located in the music department at the Israeli National Library in Jerusalem. Below is attached that page which has the melody, the words in Yiddish and an additional verse. Noy notes that the melody comes from three Johann Strauss ll works: “Wein, Weib und Gesang” “Wiener blut” “Morgenblatter Waltz””: