Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II
January 5, 2019 9:16 PM   Subscribe

As WWII raged, Soviet ethnomusicologists began documenting Jews' lyrical reactions to their lives—Red Army soldiers, women working in factories on the home front, refugees in Siberia. Now a team of Yiddish scholars, performers, and composers has recorded 17 of the songs, long believed lost.

You can stream the full album for free (or buy it) through the Bandcamp link. I recommend starting with Shpatsir in Vald (A Walk in the Forest), sung by Sophie Milman, whose grandfathers fought in the Red Army.

The project had its public world premiere in 2016 with a live performance and Q&A for Toronto's 96.3 FM (video).
posted by cichlid ceilidh (6 comments total) 39 users marked this as a favorite
 
Oh, thank you! My mother attends a Yiddish club every other week, and I'm always looking for things for her to share with the group. (For an 82yo, she's pretty spry with the web, but this is just fascinating.)
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 9:40 PM on January 5, 2019


'Deutschland ist aufhören, Hitler ist Kaput'

The actual orthography is likely different from what I got above, but the intent was unmistakable.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 10:11 PM on January 5, 2019


Really loving Bandcamp lately.
posted by wormwood23 at 10:23 PM on January 5, 2019


Oh, this is hard to listen to.
posted by ChuraChura at 7:30 AM on January 6, 2019


Oh thank you for bringing this to my attention. Are the lyrics and translations available anywhere?
posted by fast ein Maedchen at 9:03 AM on January 6, 2019


The CD for sale on Bandcamp comes with a booklet of lyrics and translations. Zoom in on the third image on the page for two of them. Not sure if the digital album includes anything but the songs.

The record company has a site for the group where you can see some images of the original transcriptions.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 9:33 AM on January 6, 2019 [2 favorites]


« Older Probably the best game since Neko Atsume   |   Who are the Golden Girls of Prospect Cemetery? Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments