Re: Fwd: Yiddish and Spanish Civil War

[Judy Pinnolis <pinnolis...>]

Dear Judith and Paula:
Paula is right. It's a song with text by Alexandrov.
Please pass along following information to your friend about
the origins of this song:
--Our Brandeis Judaica Librarian kindly sent a message to the ALBA list
(Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives), and below is the response concerning
the Yiddish song your friend found in Spain. It's not part of SCW, but a
much earlier song and really about the Russian Revolution.
Judy


>
>The song in question was not created in/for the SCW. It was a revolutionary
>song in the Jewish pale of settlement in the Czarist empire.
>
>In "Pearls of Yiddish Song," Mlotek, Eleanor Gordon and Joseph, compilers,
>Workmen's Circle, NY, 1988, these facts are noted:
>
>Words by Khayim Aleksandrov, pen name of Khayim Miller (1869-1909), first
>published in the US Oct. 8, 1904. Text and music published in 1930 by
>Abrasha Vayner.
>
>The Mloteks quote an anonymous source writing (July 7, 1909) in the Yiddish
>newspaper _der arbeter_ (The Worker) -- probably on the occasion of the
>author's death: "Aleksandrov's moving song made a strong impact on the
>fighting Jewish proletariat in the Russian Revolution (of 1905, HH). the
>words?made heroes of the enlightened Jewish workers."
>
>The second version quoted by Joaquina Labajo is in correct Yiddish. Ernst
>Busch's version is heavily Germanicized; the early Yiddish-speaking
>Socialist and Anarchist movements used such pseudo-Germanic forms --
>especially in print -- as a symbol of their "higher thought."
>
>The quoted verse says:
>
>"Brothers, we have forged an alliance in life and til death; we stand in
>the battle as comrades, the red banners in our hands."
>
>The second and third verses contributed to making the song a funeral march
>of the revolutionary movement. (I learned them this way in the left-wing
>Yiddish supplementary high-school in the Bronx in the early 40s.):
>
>"And should a bullet strike you, fired by the enemy dog, we carry you out
>of the fire and heal your wound with kisses.
>
>"And if you have fallen dead, your beloved eyes shut, we wrap you in the
>red banner and follow you into the bloody battle."
>
>Hershl Hartman
>

Charles Cutter
Judaica Librarian and University Archivist
Brandeis University Libraries
P.O. Box 9110 Mailstop 045
Waltham, MA 02454-9110
Tel: (781)736-4688
Fax: (781)736-4719
Cutter (at) Brandeis(dot)Edu

******************************************************

At 05:21 PM 12/12/99 -0500, you wrote:
>>From: "Judith Cohen" <judithrc (at) hotmail(dot)com>
>>To: ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
>>Subject: Yiddish and Spanish Civil War
>>Date: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 14:15:15 PST
>>
>>Hi Ari! a quick note from Madrid. My friend Joaquina is working on a Sp. 
>>Civil War song project, and has come across some stuff in Yiddish. We´d
like 
>>to ask if anyone on the list knows of any collections of songs sung by Jews 
>>who participated one way or another or anything connected - specifically 
>>related to the SCW. I may not get to e-mail for a while and won´t be at her 
>>place after tonight, so people may want to reply directly to her: Joaquina, 
>>at
>
>j(dot)labajo (at) retemail(dot)es
>
>>Thanks, take care, Judith
>
>
>
>

Judith S. Pinnolis
Reference Librarian,
Coordinator for Publications and Training
Brandeis University Libraries
P.O Box 9110  MS045
415 South Street                                
Waltham, MA 02454-9110
phone:781-736-4705
fax: 781-736-4719
email: pinnolis (at) brandeis(dot)edu

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