MAMES GRUV - MY MOTHER'S GRAVE
Lyrics: Valya Roytlender, 10 years old, Bratslov, Ukraine, 20 August, 1945.
Music: Based on the folksong “Ver Zhe Klapt Do in Mayn Tir” (Itsik Fefer and Beregovsky, p. 132),* in a modified version by Valia Roytlender, with instrumental parts and arrangement by Sergei Erdenko.
The song details the grieving of a young child who loses his mother. He walks
away from her grave knowing he’ll never see her again and realizes that she
will never be able to tuck him in at night. The song probably resonated not only
with children, but also with soldiers and other adults who survived the war
but lost their parents and grandparents to the violence. Soviet Jewish elders
were among the first ones to be murdered by the German Army. The feelings
of guilt and powerlessness are especially prominent in Soviet Yiddish songs of
survivors. On the album, we decided to feature a 12-year-old singer to provide
a more authentic listening experience.
English
Russian
Yiddish Transliteration
Yiddish
I leave behind my mother’s grave
“Mama, I won’t return to you again
“Oh mama, who will wake me up [in the mornings]?
“Oh mama, who will tuck me in [at night]?”
“The morningstars will wake you, [my child],
The rainbow will cover you [at nights]
I roam around, like the sheep in the field
Yet I can’t ever arrive at any shore
I never saw my mother again
They drove her to [her death]; to the other side
But the bitter suffering will soon come to an end
The enemy will be snatched and defeated.
Иду навек от могилы прочь,
Одна без мамы сиротка дочь.
Ой, кто же утром меня разбудит?
Ой, кто же ночью укрывать будет?”
“Заря лучистая тебя разбудит.
Листва росистая укрывать будет”.
Хожу-брожу овечкой по лугу.
На берег тот вернуться не могу.
Увидеть маму больше не могу.
Она осталась на том берегу.
Но всё проходит и всё пройдёт,
И горьким мукам конец придёт.
Ikh gey avek fun mayn muters grub
Un keynmol mame, vel ikh nit kumen tsu dir.
Oy, ver-zhe, mame, vet mikh ufvekn
Oy, ver-zhe, mame, vet mikh tsudekn
Der morgnshtern vet dikh ufvekn,
Der regnblat vet dikh tsudekn
Ikh gey arum, vi di shof in feld
Un keynmol ken ikh nit kumen tsu keyn breg.
Mayn mamen hob ikh mer shoyn nit gezen,
Fartribn hot men zi fun yener zayt breg
Nor gikh vet zayn a sof tsu di laydn bitere,
Gikh vet nemen shoyn tsu zey an ek.
איך גיי אוועק פון מיין מוטערס גרובּ
און קיינמאל מאמע, וועל איך ניט קומען צו דיר.
אוי, ווער–זשע, מאמע, וועט מיך אופוועקן
אוי, ווער–זשע, מאמע, וועט מיך צודעקן
דער מאָרגנשטערן וועט דיך אופוועקן,
דער רעגנבלאט וועט דיך צודעקן
איך גיי ארום, ווי די שאָף אין פעלד
און קיינמאל קען איך ניט קומען צו קיין בּרעג.
מיין מאמען האָבּ איך מער שוין ניט געזען,
פארטריבּן האט מען זי פון יענער זייט ברעג
נאר גיך וועט זיין א סאָף צו די ליידן ביטערע,
גיך וועט נעמען שוין צו זיי אן עק
Source Documents & Recordings
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DEVELOPED BY DUMASTAR
*We thank Sasha Lurje for pointing out this original tune to us.
Source: Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, Manuscript Department, fond 190, delo 321, p. 37, also published in Bret Werb, Fourteen Shoah Songbooks, p. 98.