MAYN PULEMYOT - MY MACHINE GUN
Lyrics: Sent in a letter and written down (but does not say from whom) by Mendel Man
(1916 -1975), a teacher, Polish Yiddish poet, translator and artist, in Veliki Luk, Zhitomir
region. (This is the location recorded in the document, but it is not clear whether this is
an actual place or a mistake).
Music: Psoy Korolenko, based on traditional klezmer tunes, with instrumental parts and arrangement by Sergei Erdenko.
Written from the point of view of a Polish Jewish soldier in the Red Army, the
song expresses pride in holding a machine gun, used to kill Germans.
The author praises his ability to avenge destroyed houses, families, and shtetl.
In preparing the song for intended publication in the 1940s, censors replaced
the line “so that my people should live” with “so that our peoples should live,”
thus erasing the overly nationalistic tone of the original. In order to honor both
the author of the song, and the scholars who prepared it for publication, listeners
will hear both versions within this track.
The klezmer tune was chosen for the song to highlight the importance of Jewish
images, as well as hint at the tension between the Soviet and Jewish contexts of
this song.
English
Russian
Yiddish Transliteration
Yiddish
I lie beside my machine gun
And softly sing a Yiddish tune.
All around me, everything is quiet,
The only sound is the swish of the grasses
I remember the joy of my shtetl
Who wouldn’t recognize it?
Now it’s been emptied out, there are no people left
Oh, all the houses have been burned
But [luckily] the Red Army is here
And she gave me a machine gun
I fire at the Germans, again and again
So that my people can live freely.
Oh, you vicious cannibals, feasting on humans
Oh, you German bandits!
Hey, machine gun, aim for the target
Not a single German should be left alive.
Вот я и мой пулемёт
Мы шепчем на идише нигн
Вокруг сгустилась тишь,
И буйные травы никнут.
Помню весёлый штетл,
Кому он не был знаком?
Теперь он пуст, людей нету,
Немцы спалили наш дом…
Но Красная Армия есть,
Она мне дала пулемёт,
И бью я, и бью я немцев,
За весь наш еврейский народ.
И бью я, и бью я немцев,
За весь наш советский народ.
Ой, вы ненавистные звери,
Ой, вы немецкие бандиты!
Эй, пулемёт, в тебя верю,
Бей, никого не щади ты.
Ой вы злые людоеды,
Ой, вы немецкие бандиты!
Целься и бей, до победы,
Пусть они все будут биты.
Ikh lig lebn pulyemyot
Un sheftshe a yidishn nign.
Arum mir iz alts shtil,
Nor s’tuen di grezelekh zikh vign.
Kh’dermon zikh mayn freylekh shtetl
Ver hot es nit gekent?
Itst iz es pust, on mentshn,
Oy di shtiber farbrent.
Nor s’iz do a royte armey,
Hot zi mir a pulyemyot gegebn,
Shlog ikh un shlog ikh di daytshn
Kedey undzere Felker zoln fray lebn.
Oy, ir viste mentshn-freser,
Oy, ir daytshishe banditn!
Hey, pulyemyot, tsil beser
Zolst keyn daytsh nit oysmitn.
איך ליג לעבן פוליעמיאָט
און שעפטשע א יידישן ניגן.
ארום מיר איז אלץ שטיל,
נאר ס׳טוען די גרעזעלעך זיך וויגן .
כ׳דערמאָן זיך מיין פריילעך שטעטל
ווער האָט עס ניט געקענט?
איצט איז עס פוסט, אָן מענטשן,
אוי די שטיבער פארברענט.
נאָר ס׳איז דאָ א רויטע ארמיי,
האָט זי מיר א פוליעמ׳אָט געגעבן,
שלאָג איך און שלאָג איך די דייטשן
קעדיי אונדזערע פעלקער זאלן פריי לעבן.
אוי, איר וויסטע מענטשן–פרעסער,
אוי, איר דייטשישע באנדיטן!
היי, פולעמיאָט, ציל בעסער
זאָלסט קיין דייטש ניט אויסמיטן.
Source Documents & Recordings
DEVELOPED BY DUMASTAR
Source: Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, Manuscript Department, fond 190, delo 322, p. 44.