Two Songs from the Strassenhof Labor Camp by Masha Rolnik

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman, Ph.D.

Sadly, as we were preparing this blog entry the Yiddish writer Masha Rolnik (Mascha Rolnikaite) passed away at age 89 in St. Petersburg, on April 7th, 2016. Her Yiddish diary of her experiences during the Holocaust, written as a teenager is entitled Ikh muz dertseyln (I Must Tell). It is considered one of the most important day-by-day descriptions of the Vilna ghetto.

Masha Rolnik

We thank Michael Lukin, researcher and curator of Yiddish song at the Jewish Music Research Centre in Jerusalem for submitting the recording, which he made in St. Petersburg, Russia, November 27, 2013.

In this Yiddish Song of the Week entry we are including a 10 minute unedited recording in which she sings two Yiddish songs written while in a labor camp during the second world war. She then talks about her life during the war. We have translated her introductory spoken remarks and the two songs, as well as transliterations of them.

The two songs that she sings, Der Shtrasenhofer hymn and Sport can be found in Shmerke Kaczerginski’s collection Lider in di getos un lagern (Congress for Jewish Culture, NY, 1948) (pages 228 – 229 and pages 224 – 225). There the author of the songs is listed as “unknown” but from this recording we are made aware that Rolnik wrote the words and apparently borrowed the melody from other songs.

We are attaching scans of the songs in Yiddish from the Kaczerginski collection. Since Rolnik’s versions of the songs vary only slightly from the printed versions, and, in fact, she is singing them from Kaczerginski’s book, we have only provided the Yiddish versions as found in that collection. The music to the Hymn is also found in the Kaczerginski collection and we have included a scan of that as well.

In the Kaczerginski collection, both songs were sung to the collector by Sarah Kogan from Vilna, and her performance of the Hymn can be heard in the Ben Stonehill collection. Also in the Stonehill collection you can hear Kaczerginski himself singing the Strassenhofer Hymn.

There are many websites to find out more about Rolnik’s life, and one can begin with her Wikipedia page. There is a Yad Vashem page on her father, Hirsh Rolnik, who was separated from the family at the beginning of the war. The Yad Vashem website additionally has information on the Strassenhof camp located near Vienna, where almost all the inmates survived.

Masha Rolnik speaks: “Sunday, we worked half a day, so during the second half we were free. That Jews should be free – they could not accept that notion. So we had to march in the camp singing a song that they provided. The song is called ‘We were the masters of the world; now we are’ – you’ll pardon me – ‘the lice of the world.’ I could not accept that. Where I got the melody I don’t know: I am no composer. It was in my head.

SONG 1: DI SHTRASENHOFER HYMN
lyrics: Masha Rolnik, music: unknown

1
Mir zaynen di shtrasenhofer yidn,
Dos “naye eyrope” boyen mir.
Di arbet, vos mir hobn – iz farshidn.
Ober tsores hobn mir on a shir.

REFRAIN:

Akh, shtrasenhof, oy biz tsum haldz bistu mir!
Akh, shtrasenhof, vi vert men poter shoyn fun dir?
Akh, shtrasenhof, ven vet shoyn kumen di tsayt,
un mir veln vider zayn bafrayt?

2
Mitn esn iz do zeyer biter –
Di zup, zi iz epes modne blo,
un dertsu – iz zi azoy shiter
vayl kartofl far undz iz nokh nito.

REFRAIN
3
Di fabrikn-luft bakumt undz nit tsum gutn,
dos veysn mir ale gants genoy.
Es zol beser tsirkulirn undzere blutn,
shikt men zuntik undz afn barakn-boy.

REFRAIN
4
Nor derfun ken men oykh nokh nit shtarbn –
dos meynt men mit undz gornit shlekht;
Mir viln krign in di bakn royte farbn –
Do iz der lager-elterer “gerekht”.

REFRAIN
5
Mit der derloybenish fun eltern fun lager
vert yedn zuntik ovnt muzitsirt,
un loytn bafel fun eltern: oy a shlager,
vert yedn zuntik morgn eksertsirt.

REFRAIN
6
Es muz vern marshirt un gezungen!
Ir tort nit zayn shtayf, vi a bret!
Ir muzst hobn gezunte lungen,
oyb ir vet amol farlozn dem katset!…

1
We are the Shrassenhofer Jews,
We are building the “New Europe”
The work that we do is varied,
But sorrows we have without end.

REFRAIN

Akh, Strassenhof, I am up to my throat with you,
Akh, Strassenhof, how can I get rid of you?
Akh Strassenhof, when will the time return
And we will once more be free?

2
Concerning the food here, it’s very bitter –
The soup, its strangely blue.
In addition – it’s so thin
Because there are no potatos here for us.

REFRAIN
3
The factory air makes us sick.
We all know this too well.
In order for our blood to circulate better
We are sent on Sunday to build barracks.

REFRAIN
4
But yet from this one cannot die –
They have no evil designs on us.
We will get red colors in our cheeks.
The camp elder is right about that.

REFRAIN
5
With the permission of the elders in the camp
Every Sunday we make music.
Following the order of the elders: Oh, a hit song!
Should get exercised every Sunday morning.

REFRAIN
6
We must march and sing!
You cannot be stiff as a board!
You must have healthy lungs,
If you ever want to leave this camp.

REFRAIN

SONG 2: SPORT
words: Masha Rolnik music: unknown

In Strasenhofer lager
derfunden hot men dort
far groys un kleyn,
far yung un alt –
a naye mode – sport.
Ver s’hot dem apel farshlofn,
Ver in nore farzamt zikh hot –
krigt glaykh nokhn apel
dem nayem sport-kompot

REFRAIN:
Oy, Shtrasenhof, farvos zog, Shtrasenhof,
Ikh freg dikh, Shtrasenhof, du veyst gevis.
Der sport iz grod nit shlekht, dos bistu yo gerekht
nor farvos shmartsn nokhdem azoy di fis?

Tsu morgns in fabrik gekumen,
dershlept zikh got-tsu-dank.
Dan nemt a yede brumen:
“Oy, vi bin ikh haynt krank”.
Eyne ken zikh nit rirn,
di tsveyte ken nit geyn,
di drite muz men firn,
di ferte ken nit shteyn.

Refrain – Oy Strasenhof….

Tsu peysekh git men undz
a geshenk gor fayn un shnel:
dray a zeyger ofshteyn
un fir in der apel.
Un Lides shtime hert men
“Ver vil nokh shlofn dort?
Tsi den hot ir fargesn
az ir muzst haynt makhn sport?”

REFRAIN

Mit sport muzn mir oyfshteyn,
mit sport shlofn mir ayn,
sport ahin tui sport aher
Gevald! Ikh ken nit mer!

In Strassenhof camp
They discovered
For big and small,
For young and old –
A new fad – sport.
Whoever slept past the “Apel” [line-up]
Whoever in her corner came late –
The new sport-pudding.

REFRAIN:
Oy Strassenhof, why, tell me, Strassenhof
I ask you Strassenhof; you know for sure.
The sport is actually not bad, in this you are right.
But why afterwards do my legs hurt so much?

Next day I came to the factory
I barely made it, thank God.
Then everyone starts to complain:
“Oy how sick I am today”.
One cannot move.
The other cannot walk.
The third one must be helped,
The fourth cannot stand.

REFRAIN

For Passover they give us
A gift, real fine and fast;
Three o’oclock wake up
And by four at the Appel.
And Lide’s voice can be heard.
Who wants to sleep some more over there,
Did you forget
That you have to do sport today?!

REFRAIN

With sport we must wake up.
With sport we fall asleep.
Sport here, sport there,
Help! I can’t anymore.

 

Announcing the Stonehill Jewish Song Collection!

If you’ve been enjoying the regular postings here on the Yiddish Song of the Week, we invite you to visit a new website created by Center for Traditional Music and Dance and Yiddish scholar Miriam Isaacs. The Stonehill Jewish Song Collection website has been recently launched with over sixty songs, mainly in Yiddish, that were collected by Ben Stonehill in 1948 from D.P. camp refugees who were being temporarily housed at the Hotel Marseilles in Manhattan. It is our plan to eventually disseminate the entire Stonehill collection – over 1000 songs on the new website.

“Iz Reyzele a meydl” Performed by Chaya Fiyzerman Friedman

Iz Reyzele a meydl
Reyzele is a Girl
Performance by Chaya Fiyzerman Friedman
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

A student at University of Texas at Austin, Brooke Fallek video recorded her grandmother, Chaya Fiyzerman Friedman (b. 1929, Vilna) in New Jersey, Fall 2014, singing this song about a toy donkey (eyzele) which she learned by sneaking into the Yiddish theater in the Vilna ghetto.

Picture of a Jewish girl in Poland, 1930s

Fallek writes about her grandmother –  “Her mother hid her in a knapsack at the time of the selection at the closing of the ghetto. They were sent to the Stutthof concentration camp in Latvia. She had to hide in camp since she was a child and should have died A Nazi soldier found her and took a liking to her – he had a daughter her age.

Both she and her mother survived and went to Berlin after the war to a Displaced Persons camp. She came to New York, attended high school and married David Friedman – also a partisan survivor, in 1950. They were married for 53 years until his death. They have 3 children and 8 grandchildren.”

Iz Reyzl a meydl, a shtiferke a bren.
Hot Reyzl in a fentster an eyzele derzen.
Vert Reyzl tsetumlt, zi vil an eyzele vos lakht.
Hot papa ir anumlt fun yard aza gebrakht.

Ay, ay ay Reyzele hot zi an eyzele
mit fislekh kurtsinke, oyern lang.
A kvetsh a knepele, rirt zikh dos kepele,
Shoklen un viglen zikh af yo un neyn.

Oy, an umglik hot getrofn
shloft Reyzl nisht bay nakht.
Der eyzl iz tsebrokhn
iz Reyzl umgebrakht.

Ay, ay ay Reyzele,
hot gehat an eyzele.
mit fislekh kurtsinke, oyern lang.

Reyzl, a girl full of mischief and zeal.
Suddenly spotted in the window a donkey.
So Reyzl gets excited – she wants a laughing donkey.
So papa brought her one from the fair.

Ay, ay, ay Reyzele has a little donkey,
with short legs and big ears.
Push a button and the head moves,
and shakes and rocks to say yes and no.

Oy a catastrophe happened;
Reyzl can’t sleep at night.
The donkey is broken,
so Reyzl got upset.*
[*umgebrakht usually means “killed”, perhaps “oyfgebrakht” is what she meant?]

Ay, ay, ay Reyzele
once had a donkey.
with short legs
and long ears.

There are two professional recordings of this song, one by the singer and collector, Lea Szlanger in Israel on her LP “A Nig’n After My Heart – Mayn eygener nigun”. In Szlanger’s version the donkey “eyzele” becomes a rabbit “heyzele” (thanks to Lea Szlanger for sending the recording and words.)

Transliteration/Translation of Lea Szlanger’s performance:

Iz Reyzele a meydl, a shtiferke a bren.
Hot Reyzele in fentster a hezele derzen.
Un Reyzele zi vil nor, a hezele vos lakht.
Hot ir der foter fun yarid a hezele gebrakht.

Oy, oy, oy Reyzele, hot zi a hezele
mit lange oyerlekh un fislkeh kleyn.
A kvetsh a knepele, shoklt zikh dos kepele;
Shoklt zikh un vigt zikh – yo, yo un neyn.

Men tut a kvetsh a knepele hert zikh a gezang.
Oyfn haldz a glekele, klingt es gling, glang, glang.
Dan fregt zikh Reyzele far vos dos hezele
hot fislekh kurtsinke un oyern lang?

Zi tsertlt im un tulyet; zi shloft mit im bay nakht.
Zi kusht im un zi haldzt im un Reyzele zi lakht.
Un kinderlekh in droysn fun Reyzelen makhn shpot
“Zet nor, zet nor sara groysn heyzl reyzl hot”

Oy, oy, oy Reyzele, hot zi a heyzele
mit lange oyerlekh un fislekh kleyn.
A kvetsh a knepele, shoklt zikh dos kepele;
Shoklt zikh un vigt zikh yo, yo un neyn.

Men tut a kvetsh a knepele hert zikh a gezang.
Oyfn haldz a glekele, klingt es gling, glang, glang.
Dan fregt zikh Reyzele far vos dos heyzele
hot fislekh kurtsinke un oyern lang?

Reyzele is a girl, a scamp, a dynamo.
Reyzele saw a rabbit in the window.
And Reyzele, she only wants a rabbit that laughs.
So her father brought her a rabbit from the fair.

Oy, oy, oy Reyzele, has a rabbit
with long ears and little legs.
Push a button and the head rocks,
Nods and rocks – yes, yes and no.

Just push a button and you hear a song.
On her throat a little bell that rings -gling, glang, glang.
Then Reyzele asks herself why does this rabbit
have such short legs and big ears?

She caresses it and cradles it; she sleeps with it at night.
She kisses it and embraces it and Reyzele, she laughs.
And children outside make fun of Reyzele –
“Just look what a big rabbit Reyzl has!”

Oy, oy, oy Reyzele, has a rabbit
with long ears and little legs.
Push a button and the head rocks,
Nods and rocks – yes, yes and no.

Just push a button and you hear a song.
On her throat a little bell that rings -gling, glang, glang.
Then Reyzele asks herself why does this rabbit
have such short legs and big ears?

The second recording of the song is by Henny Durmashkin on her LP  “Lider tsu gedenken” – “Songs to Remember” (thanks to Lorin Sklamberg of the YIVO Sound Archives for sending the mp3 and LP cover with photo of singer and biographical information – click image to enlarge). Her version is very close to Szlanger’s.

Durmashkin was also from Vilna; her father Wolf Durmashkin was a Vilna conductor before the war and in the ghetto. Henny’s sister Fanny Durmashkin accompanies her on piano. A film on these remarkable sisters was made in 2007 – “Creating Harmony: the Displaced Persons Orchestra at St. Otillien.” An article from the New Jersey Jewish Standard tells the story.

A shortened printed version of the song appears in the Parisian collection, 1948  – “Mir zingen” published by Gezelshaft kinder-fraynt, p. 109. An even shorter recorded version is found in the Ben Stonehill collection.

So this song about a rocking toy donkey (or rabbit) is clearly from Vilna/Vilnius, 1930s or perhaps created in the ghetto; but the author and composer are unknown. Fiyzerman sings a verse, or part of a third verse, that the other versions do not include, about the toy being broken.

“Lid fun der frantzeyzisher revolutsye” Performed by Nitsa Rantz

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

This song by Nitsa Rantz was recorded at the same concert as Rantz’s song Mayn shifl that we had earlier posted in in our blog, at the club Tonic on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2009. Rantz is accompanied by Jeff Warschauer on guitar.

Nitsa Rantz in Paris, Late 1940s

In their column “Lider demonen zikh lider” [Readers remember songs] in the Yiddish Forward newspaper, Feb. 7th 1992, page 15. Chana and Joseph Mlotek printed the words of Nitsa Rantz’s version of this song.

The columnists note that Rantz called the song “Viglid fun der frantzeyzisher revolutsye” [Lullaby of the French Revolution], and that they had found a printed version in a Workmen’s Circle songbook, 1934.

A version was sung during the Holocaust in the Vilna ghetto and was printed in Shmerke Katcherginski’s collection “Lider fun getos un lagern”, 1948. The singer Rokhl Relis called it “Dos lid fun umbakantn partisan”. Instead of the guillotine, the father is killed in a gas chamber.

Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman sings a similar version to Rantz’s, and there is enough difference in the text to make it worthwhile to post it on the Yiddish Song of the blog at some point. A beautiful version is found in the Stonehill collection, sung by an as yet unidentified man, (Reel 9).

Shlof shoyn kind mayns vider ruik ayn.
Shtil es flit shoyn di levone-shayn.
Fun der vaytns finklen shtern,
Kuk nisht kind af mayne trern.
Shlof shoyn kind mayns vider ruik ayn.

Sleep my child once more quietly.
Quietly the moonlight flies .
From the distance stars are twinkling.
Child do not look at my tears.
Sleep my child once more quietly.

Es vet der tate mer nisht kumen.
Im hot men fun undz genumen.
Iber di gasn im geshlept,
af dem eshafod gekept.
Blaybn mir dokh eynzam kind aleyn.

Your father will no longer come.
They took him away from us.
They dragged him through the streets,
on the guillotine they cut his head.
So we remain lonely, my child.

Reder geyen in fabrikn,
menstshn geyen underdrikn.
Dort ahin iz er gegangen,
vu es raysn zikh di klangen.
Vu di shteyner zenen royt baflekt.

Wheels turn in the factory,
the people go oppressed.
There is where he went,
where the noises wildly sound,
where the stones are stained red.

Unter der fon hoykh gehoybn,
hot er mit a tifn gloybn,
az er muz bafrayen shklafen,
firn zey tsu a naym hafn,
Tsu a groyser, sheyner, nayer velt.

Under the flag raised high,
with a firm belief
that he must free the slaves,
take them to a new harbor,
to a great, beautiful new world.

“Klezmorim mayne” from the Ben Stonehill Collection

Notes by Itzik Gottesman

“Klezmorim mayne” is a recording of an unidentified singer recorded by Ben Stonehill in the lobby of the Marseilles Hotel (Broadway and 103rd street in Manhattan) in summer 1948.

The Ben Stonehill Collection

Lorin Sklamberg’s article in News from YIVO about the Ben Stonehill Collection should be read in its entirety. It’s a fascinating story. Sklamberg is the sound archivist at YIVO in addition to being the lead singer for the Klezmatics.

In 1948 Mr. Stonehill (1906-1965), armed with a home recording device, preserved the singing of some 1078 songs by Jewish displaced persons temporarily housed in a Manhattan hotel “and for several weeks interviewed hundreds of informants, gathering  performances of both well-known and obscure Yiddish folk and theater songs, Hasidic nigunim and songs of the Holocaust as sung by singers ranging from strictly amateur performers to some remarkable vocal artists, including the Vilna poet-partisan Shmerke Kaczerginsky.”  He transferred the recordings from wire to reel before his death and left copies at Yeshiva University, Yad Vashem, Library of Congress and YIVO. Janina Wurbs digitized and completed a preliminary catalogue.

The Center for Traditional Music and Dance is actively working with Yiddish scholar Miriam Isaacs to organize and disseminate the entire Stonehill archive. Click here to view the website. 

“Klezmorim mayne”

The song “Klezmorim mayne” can be found at YIVO on Stonehill CD #3, song #43.  There are many gems in the Stonehill collection, but I think it’s greatest worth will be as a reflection of the broad Jewish musical world in the 1930s in Eastern Europe; in other words, a key to help us answer the question, what did the Jews sing before the war?  Old fashioned ballad hunters like myself will be disappointed since most of the collection consists of popular, well-known songs, but then once in a while someone will sing a song like “Klezmorim mayne”, an old death ballad from the 19th or even perhaps 18th century, and – wow! Nothing makes me smile more than an old death ballad.

Noyekh Prilutski’s second volume of Yiddish folksongs (1913) which has no melodies included, does  include a number of variants of this particular ballad that is built upon the alef-beys. The singer here forgets the stanza for the letter “ז” – zayin – which none of the hotel lobby spectators seem to notice, but they do notice when he confuses lines in another verse and laughter is heard. The singer, unfortunately unidentified, does not lose his cool in the midst of this ridicule and continues to sing beautifully. Great performance under pressure.  Below is the text in standard Yiddish, then an English transliteration in the singer‘s Yiddish dialect, intercut at every verse with the translation.

Klezmurim mayne,
klezmurim mayne zise,
(Oy) Shpilts mir of dus shtikele,
far mayn gsise.

My klezmer,
My dear klezmer,
Play for me that melody
before I die.

Di alef makht,
Ov hurakhmim shoykhayn bimroymim
Di bist a futer
iber ale yesoymim.

The alef makes the sound of
“Our merciful father who dwells in the heavens,”
You are a father
over all the orphans.

Di bays makht – bays a hoz.
A shud avektsevarfn,
Kimt tsi gayn der malekh-hamuves
dem khalef tsikopns tsi sharfn.

The beyz sounds like – beys a house.
A shame to throw it away.
Then the angel of death comes
and sharpens his knife at the head of the bed.

Oy di giml makht – gold in zilber
duz iz dokh a heyvl-havulim.*
A yeder mentshns leybn
iz dokh azoy vi a khulem.

O the giml makes – gold and silver.
This vanity of vanities.
Every person’s life
in no more than a dream.

Oy, di daled makht – di hent in fis
zay tien in mir kiln.
un dus fayfele in deym harts,
tit in mir shpiln.

O, the daled makes – the hands and legs
are starting to get cold.
and the little flute in my heart,
starts to act up.

Oy, di hay makht – hayle hadvurim.**
Oy, hayle hadvurim,
A Yedn mentshns leybn,
iz dokh azoy vi a khulem.

O the hey makes – “these be the words” [Deuteronomy 1.1]
“These be the words”
Every person’s life
Is just like a dream.

Oy, di vuv makht – vayse klayder,
zey tien dem mentsh bashaynen.
Oy, rifts aran mayn vayb un kinderlekh,
Lomikh zay farn toyt bavaynen.

O the vuv makes – white clothes
beautify the man.
Call in my wife and children
and let them lament me before I die.

Oy di khes makht – khevre kedoyshim***
ir zent dokh haylike mentshn.
Rifts aran mayn vayb un kinderlekh,
Lomir zey farn toyt bentshn.

The khes makes – the khevre kadishe [burial society]
you are holy people.
Call in my wife and children
Let me bless them before I die.

Oy, di tes makht – tint in feder
mit deym ken men dokh ales bashraybn.
oy git mir (ayer?) tint in feder,
lomikh testament shraybn.

The tes makes – ink and pen,
with this you can describe everything.
Give me (your?) ink and pen,
and let me write my testament.

Di yid makht – yo, yo yo!
Ikh hob gemaynt kh’el aybik leybn.
Atsindn**** rift men meykh,
kh’zol din-vekhesbn opgeybn.

The yud makes – yes, yes, yes!
I thought i would live forever.
Now call I am called upon
to give a full reckoning.

Oy din־vekhesbm opgeybn
dos iz dokh zayer shlekht.
oy herts mikh oys raboysay,
tsindst un tsu kopns di lekht.

To give a full reckoning,
is indeed very bad.
So listen to me gentlemen,
light by my head the candles.

Di lekht ungetsinen,
tsevishn mane palatsn,
oy vay tsu mayne yesoymendlekh,
zey hobn shoyn nit keyn tatn.

The candles have been lit,
among my palaces.
Woe to my little orphans,
they have no more father.

* usually without the indefinite article “a” which makes it singular.
**hayle hadvruim. In the bible “Eyle hadvurim,” but in the singer’s Polish Yiddish dialect, he adds the “h” sound before “Eyle”, thus the phrase can now be used for the “Hey” letter in the alef-beys of the song.
***khevre kadoyshim. A folksy form of khevre kadisha?
****atsindn. A form of atsindert ־ now

קלעזמאָרים מײַנע,
קלעזמאָרים מײַנע זיסע.
שפּילט מיר אויף אַ שטיקעלע,
פֿאַר מײַן גסיסה

די „א‟ מאַכט — אבֿ הרחמים
שוכן במרומים
דו ביסט אַ פֿאָטער
איבער אַלע יתומים

די „ב‟ מאַכט ־ בית אַ הויז
אַ שאָד אַוועקצוּוואַרפֿן.
קומט צו גיין דער מלאך־המוות
דעם חלף צו קאָפּנס צו שאַרפֿן

אוי, די „ג‟ מאַכט — גאָלד און זילבער
דאָס איז דאָך אַ הבֿל־הבֿלים.
יעדער מענטשנס לעבן
איז דאָך נישט מער ווי אַ חלום

אוי, די „ד‟ מאַכט — די הענט און פֿיס
זיי טוען אין מיר קילן.
און דאָס פֿײַפֿעלע אין דעם האַרץ
טוט אין מיר שפּילן

אוי, די „ה‟ מאַכט — אלה הדבֿרים
אלה הדבֿרים.
יעדער מענטשנס לעבן
איז דאָך אַזוי ווי אַ חלום

אוי, די „ו‟ מאַכט — ווײַסע קליידער
זיי טוען דעם מענטש באַשיינען.
רופֿט אַרײַן מײַן ווײַב און קינדער,
לאָמיך זיי פֿאַרן טויט באַוויינען.

אוי, די „ח‟ מאַכט — חבֿרה קדושים,
איר זענט דאָך הייליקע מענטשן.
רופֿט אַרײַן מײַן ווײַב און קינדערלעך,
לאָמיך זיי פֿאַרן טויט בענטשן

אוי, די „ט‟ מאַכט — טינט און פֿעדער
מיט דעם קען מען דאָך אַלעס באַשרײַבן.
אוי, גיט מיר אײַער טינט און פֿעדער,
לאָמיך טעסטאַמענט שרײַבן

אוי, די „י‟ מאַכט — יאָ! יאָ! יאָ!
כ‘האָב געמיינט איך וועל אייביק לעבן.
אַצינדערט רופֿט מען מיך,
איך זאָל דין־וחשבון אָפּגעבן

דין־וחשבון אָפּצוגעבן
דאָס איז דאָך זייער שלעכט.
אוי, הערט מיך אויס רבותי,
צינדט אָן צוקאָפּנס די ליכט

די ליכט אָנגעצונדן
אין אַלע מײַנע פּאַלאַצן.
אוי ווי צו מײַנע יתומהלעך,
זיי האָבן שוין ניט קיין טאַטן