Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Commemoration
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Der Partizaner-himen––Hymn of the Partisans Annual Gathering Commemorating Words by Hirsh Glik; Music by Dmitri Pokras Wa rsaw Ghetto Uprising Zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg, The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg. Commemoration Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho – s'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zaynen do! TODAY marks the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Each April 19th, survivors, the Yiddish cultural Fun grinem palmenland biz vaysn land fun shney, community, Bundists, and children of resistance fighters and mir kumen on mit undzer payn, mit undzer vey, Holocaust survivors gather in Riverside Park at 83rd Street at 75th Anniversary un vu gefaln s'iz a shprits fun undzer blut, the plaque dedicated to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in order to shprotsn vet dort undzer gvure, undzer mut! mark this epic anniversary and to pay tribute to those who S'vet di morgnzun bagildn undz dem haynt, fought and those who perished in history’s most heinous crime. un der nekhtn vet farshvindn mit dem faynt, On April 19, 1943, the first seder night of Passover, as the nor oyb farzamen vet di zun in dem kayor – Nazis began their liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto, a group of vi a parol zol geyn dos lid fun dor tsu dor. about 220 out of 50,000 remaining Jews staged a historic and Dos lid geshribn iz mit blut, un nit mit blay, heroic uprising, holding the Nazis at bay for almost a full month, s'iz nit keyn lidl fun a foygl oyf der fray. until May 16. It marked the largest organized armed rebellion Dos hot a folk tsvishn falndike vent within a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe during the dos lid gezungen mit naganes in di hent. Holocaust. Though outnumbered and facing overwhelming To zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg, military power, the Jewish fighters––men, women, boys, and khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg. girls––fought fiercely. They fought without hope of victory, but Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho – with the goal that they would not die in silence. s'vet a poyk ton undzer trot: mir zaynen do! On October 19, 1947, this plaque was dedicated on the site designated to become the location of a New York City monument Di Bundishe shvue––Anthem of the Bund to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which to this day has not been by Sh. Ansky built. Buried beneath the plaque are two boxes containing soil from Terezin and Sered–two concentration camps located in Brider un shvester fun arbet un noyt Czechoslovakia, and a scroll describing the defense of the Ale vos zaynen tsezeyt un tseshpreyt, Hannah Fryshdorf, a fighter in the uprising, Tsuzamen, tsuzamen, di fon iz greyt, Warsaw ghetto. Over the years, the plaque itself––known to the amid the ruins of the Warsaw ghetto Zi flatert fun tsorn, fun blut iz zi royt! survivor community as der shteyn` (“the stone”)––and our A shvue, a shvue, af lebn un toyt. annual gathering have become the monument. The gatherings at der shteyn have continued annually, rain or Himl un erd veln undz oyshern shine, even as the survivor generation has become smaller. With Eydes vet zayn di likhtike shtern A shvue fun blut un a shvue fun trern, the commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, we Thursday, April 19, 2018, 3:00 PM Mir shvern, mir shvern, mir shvern! remember all resistance efforts against the Nazis. The gatherings continue with Yiddish cultural activists Der Shteyn (The Stone) Mir shvern a trayhayt on grenetsn tsum bund. carrying on the tradition of honoring the heroism and sacrifice Nor er ken bafrayen di shklafn atsind. of the Jews of Eastern Europe with remembrances, appropriate Riverside Park at 83rd Street Di fon, di royte, iz hoykh un breyt. Zi flatert fun tsorn, fun blut iz zi royt! Yiddish poetry, and music, including the singing of Anthem of A shvue, a shvue, af lebn un toyt. the Bund and Hymn of the Partisans. Himl un erd veln undz oyshern To contact us and receive future announcements: The Congress for Jewish Culture Eydes vet zayn di likhtike shtern A shvue fun blut un a shvue fun trern, [email protected] with Friends of the Bund, the Jewish Labor Committee, Mir shvern, mir shvern, mir shvern! www.congressforjewishculture.org the Workmen’s Circle, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research PROGRAM KOVED ZEYER ONDENK DAVID FISHMAN from The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets (Honor to Their Memory) –– Selected Readings and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures Welcome Read by MARCEL KSHENSKY Introduction Moishe Rosenfeld Marcel Kshensky, Chair Rakhela Krinsky Remarks on The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising HANNAH FRYSHDORF VLADKA MEED from Memories of the Warsaw Ghetto –– 75 Years On from On Both Sides of the Wall (delivered at the Bund’s 1956 Geto-akademye) Read by ANNETTE HARCHIK David Slucki Read by ARTHUR KRYSTAL and ETTIE GOLDWASSER HERMAN KRUK SZMUL MORDKHE from The Last Days of the Jerusalem “ARTUR” ZYGIELBOJM BERNARD GOLDSTEIN of Lithuania: Chronicles from the Vilna –– The Last Letter from The Stars Bear Witness Ghetto and the Camps, 1939-1944 Read by FRANCINE DUNKEL Read by DAVID SLUCKI Read by SHANE BAKER Lucjan Blit and IRENE DUNKEL RIVERA SONGS CHAVA ROSENFARB SONGS from The Tree of Life: The Cattle Shtil, di nakht... Cars Are Waiting 1942-1944 Unter dayne vayse shtern Words by HIRSH GLIK Read by NELLY FURMAN Words by AVROM SUTZKEVER; to a Russian folk melody Music by Avrom Brudno IRIT AMIEL Sung by MAIDA FEINGOLD Yugnt-himen “Too Late” (poem) from Delayed Yid, du partizaner Words by SHMERKE KACZERGINSKI Read by AGI LEGUTKO Words by SHMERKE KACZERGINSKI to a Russian folk melody Music by Basya Rubin Sung by the HEMSHEKH CHORUS MAREK EDELMAN Sung by the H EMSHEKH C HORUS interview from Shielding the Flame Di kemfer fun Varshever geto MEYSHKE ALPERT, JOANNE BORTS, SABINA BRUKNER, Read by ALLEN LEWIS RICKMAN ROKHL KORN FRANCINE DUNKEL, MAIDA FEINGOLD, ANNETTE HARCHIK, Read by RIVKA AUGENFELD FEYGELE JACOBS, SHIFEE LOSACCO, FAYE RAN GUSTA DAWIDSON DRAENGER from Justyna’s Diary An Inspiration for ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Shane Baker, Congress for Jewish Culture; David Goldstick, Riverside Park Fund; Irena Klepfisz, Workmen’s Circle; Read by AGI LEGUTKO Partisans Everywhere Marcel Kshensky; Moishe Rosenfeld Rivka Augenfeld : Kenny Funk, Coffee Cup Design Studio, NYC PROGRAM DESIGN Liba IRENA KLEPFISZ Magarschak- SPECIAL THANKS TO: The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation– “about my father” (poem) Augenfeld Mitchell J. Silver, Commissioner; William T. Castro, Manhattan Commissioner; John Herrold, Riverside Park Administrator; The Riverside Park Conservancy; from A Few Words in the Mother Tongue Der Partizaner-himen • Di Bundishe shvue and the Weissman Family in memory of AL WEISSMAN for their help Read by IRENA KLEPFISZ and support in arranging this year’s memorial. Michał Klepfisz Laying of flowers at der shteyn.