THE SAD CAMP - FUN A TROYERIKN LAGER
Lyrics: Itsik Semidubovski, a veteran of the Red Army wounded during World War II and former prisoner of Bershad ghetto
Music: Based on the folk song “Bublichki,” author unknown
Arrangement: Alice Zawadzki
English translation and transliteration: Eli Jany
The author of the song, Isaac Semidubovsky (1925–?), a former prisoner of the Bershad ghetto, authored several texts describing the destruction, despair, and emotional toll of life there—one of which he titled In a Sad Camp. He sang the song for Moisei Beregovsky on the 18th of July, 1945, though it remains unclear whether it was written during his time in the ghetto or afterward while serving in the Red Army.
English
Yiddish Transliteration
Oy tell me, dear Jews, oh where is the
salvation?
I yearn, I wait for it, I’m being burned.
They say that it’s a good remedy,
it will redeem us from Hitler’s hands.
It will open up our eyes, dear Jews,
it will bring us joy once again.
Oy, how does one live to see the golden hour,
oy, how does one live to be there?
For the time being, we live, oy,
beloved dear Jews,
here in Transnistria in desperate need.
In pitch darkness we wander around
like sheep,
death threatening from all corners.
From the Bug to the Dnieper River,
in cities and towns,
murderers bathe in Jewish blood.
On forsaken graves, on bloody graves
is inscribed: “The Jew – kaput.”
oy, zogt-zhe, yidelekh, oy, vu di
yeshuele
kh’benk, ikh vart af ir, ikh ver farbrent.
me zogt, az zi iz gor a gut refuele,
zi vet undz oysleyzn fun hitlers hent.
zi vet undz efnen di oygn, yidelekh,
zi vet derlangen undz dos glik afsnay
oy, vi derlebt men shoyn di sho di goldene,
oy, vi derlebt men shoyn tsu zayn derbay.
lesate lebn mir, oy,
libe yidelekh,
ot do in transnistrie in shverer noyt.
in khashkhes blonken mir arum
vi shefelekh,
fun ale vinkelekh es drot der toyt.
fun bug biz dnyepr-taykh,
in shtet un shtetelekh,
es bodn rotskhim zikh in yidish blut.
af kvorim elnte, af kvorim blutike
iz ufgeshribn: “der yid – kaput”.
Source Documents & Recordings
DEVELOPED BY DUMASTAR
Source: VNLU, fond 190, delo 147, ll. 158–159