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Dem tog tsu gedenken

Dem tog tsu gedenken (The day of remembrance) is a choral composition suitable for a Holocaust remembrance event. The lyrics were written by Ida Massey; David Botwinik set Massey's poem to music in Montreal in 1956, and created a second version in Montreal in 2008. The Chamber Singers of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges under the direction of Thomas Lloyd, together with Lisa Willson, soprano, performed the world premiere of this composition in April 2012.

The translation (by Naomi Cohen, Leybl Botwinik, and Alexander Botwinik) together with the original Yiddish text and complete musical score can be found in the book From Holocaust to Life: New Yiddish Songs. See http://botwinikmusic.com.

Haynt tor men nit lakhn, haynt tor men nit shpiln;
Haynt darf men umgeyn in umet, in shtiln.
Haynt tsindt men likht in troyer, in midn,
Haynt zogt men kadish nokh zeks milyon yidn. } 2x

Vi tishe-bov in aveyles un benken,
Muzn mir ale dem tog gedenken,
Farkritsn durkh doyres in tif fun zikorn
Dem khurbn, dem groysn, fun undzere yorn. } 2x

Haynt tor men nit lakhn, haynt tor men nit shpiln;
Haynt zogt men kadish nokh zeks milyon yidn.

One mustn’t laugh today, one mustn’t play today.
Today one must go about in quiet sadness.
Today one lights candles in grief, in weariness.
Today Kaddish is recited for six million Jews.

Like Tisha B’Av, in mourning and yearning,
We must all remember this day,
Etching it into deepest memory throughout the generations:
The Holocaust, the great tragedy of our age.

One mustn’t laugh today, one mustn’t play today.
Today one must go about in quiet sadness.

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