Avrom Akselrod was a well-known poet and songwriter in the Kovno ghetto. A refugee who had fled Poland at the start of World War II, wrote a number of parodic verses in the ghetto. He was killed in July 1944, when German militiamen set fire to his underground hiding place.
He is particularly known for his cynical, humorous and realistic depictions of the misery and occasional joys of ghetto life, and his songs express the everyday struggles of the ghetto inhabitants. A typical example is the song from 1942 called ‘Ghetto Jew, answer me this’, with the chorus ‘Tsimbale, tsimbale, play ghetto Jew, play a song about the ghetto big shots, about the “inspectors”, about the “chiefs”, climbing so high in the ghetto ranks.’ This sort of critique of the ghetto hierarchy, of the suffering of the masses while the elite live privileged lives, was reflected in one of his journal entries, where he asks: ‘Who needs concerts amidst such great sadness, when hunger whines in every poor house? Better to give the workers some soup, and stop dancing at fancy dress balls.’ Akselrod, however, did not only critique and despair: he also penned pieces of resistance and wrote songs expressing hope for a future beyond the torment of the ghetto.
10 thoughts on “Kaminos”
Was Nicholas related to Alexander Saslavsky who married Celeste Izolee Todd?
Anyone have a contact email for Yair Klinger or link to score for Ha-Bayta?
wish to have homeland concert video played on the big screen throughout North America.
can organize here in Santa Barbara California.
contacts for this needed and any ideas or suggestions welcomed.
Nat farber is my great grandpa 😊
Are there any movies or photos of max kletter? His wife’s sister was my stepmother, so I’m interested in seeing them and sharing them with his wife’s daughter.
The article says Sheb recorded his last song just 4 days before he died, but does not tell us the name of it. I be curious what it was. I’d like to hear it.
Would anyone happen to know where I can find a copy of the sheet music for a Gil Aldema Choral (SATB) arrangement for Naomi Shemer’s “Sheleg Al Iri”. (Snow on my Village)?
Joseph Smith
Kol Ram Community Choir, NYC
שלום שמעון!
לא שכחתי אותך. עזבתי את ישראל בפברואר 1998 כדי להביא את בני האוטיסט לקבל את העזרה המקצועית שלא הייתה קיימת אז בישראל. זה סיפור מאוד עצוב וטרגי, אבל אני הייתי היחיד עם ביצים שהביא אותו והייתי הורה יחיד בשבילו במשך חמישה חודשים. הוא היה אז בן 9. כעת הוא בן 36 ומתפקד באופן עצמאי. נתתי לו הזדמנות לעתיד נורמלי. בטח, אבות כולם חרא, אומרים הפמינציות, אבל כולם צריכים לעבוד כמטרות במטווחי רובה!
משה קונג
(Maurice King)
Thank you for this wonderful remembrance of Herman Zalis. My late father, Henry Wahrman, was one of his students. Note the correct spelling of his name for future reference. Thank you again for sharing this.
Tirza Wahrman (Mitlak)
amazing zchuso yagein aleinu, he wrote the famous niggun Lefichuch that is sung in almost every Israeli Yeshiva