Zog Nit Keynmol Poetry by Hirsh Glik, 1946
ZOG NIT KEYNMOL Poetry by Hirsh Glik, 1946
With words by Hirsh Glik and music by Dmitri and Daniel Pokrass, "Zog Nit Keynmol" became the anthem of the Jewish underground resistance movement in World War II. Inspired by knowledge of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in May 1943, Hirsh Glik's lyrics were combined with a march melody from the 1938 Soviet film Son of the Working People to create the inspiring song "Zog Nit Keynmol." Following the end of World War II "Zog Nit Keynmol" has frequently been sung at Holocaust commemorations worldwide, particularly on Yam Hashoah.
The words to "Zog Nit Keynmol" reflect the author's strong belief in Jewish armed resistance to Nazi oppression. Like many other partisan songs, "Zog Nit Keynmol" served to reinforce Jewish identity and maintain camaraderie in an environment where heroism was required and death was commonplace. Refusing to admit defeat or accept the possibility that Jewish life in Europe was doomed, the song's lyrics are defiant and optimistic. "Never say that you have reached the final road" and "The hour that we've longed for now draws near,/Our Steps proclaim like drumbeats: We Are Here!" resound in the first and final stanzas, their repetition emphasizing the strength and determination of Jews in the face of tyranny. The optimistic tone is sustained in the second stanza, where even though Glik recognizes the existence of suffering, "We come with all our suffering and woe," he then continues: "And wherever any of our blood is shed,/Our courage and our valor rise again!" Clearly aware of the lyrics' inspirational power, the third stanza proclaims "But should tomorrow's sun await the dawn too long,/Let this song ring out for ages yet to come." Cognizant also of the extremely difficult circumstances facing all Jews in Eastern Europe, Glik's fourth stanza is a clarion call for solidarity in spite of the omnipresent dangers: "But a people, trapped between collapsing walls,/With weapons held in hand—they sang this song!" "Zog Nit Keynmol" then concludes with a full repetition of the opening stanza, which reinforces the defiant call to resist oppression: "So, never say that you have reached the final road,/Though lead-grey clouds conceal blue skies above,/The hour that we've longed for now draws near,/Our steps proclaim like drumbeats: We Are Here!"
Knowing that Jewish communities in Eastern Europe were being destroyed all around them, Jewish partisans employed armed resistance to oppose Nazism. Glik's lyrics to "Zog Nit Keynmol" helped to sustain the partisans as they risked their lives while forging another link in the long tradition of Jewish poetry dedicated to maintaining unity against hostile outside forces.
—William R. Fernekes