Yiddish Tango Lullaby from the Holocaust

Text: Szaja Shpigiel, music: David Bajgelman
Olga Avigail Mieleszczuk (vocal) &Tango Attack: Hadrian Tabęcki (piano), Grzegorz Bożewicz (bandoneon), Piotr Malicki (guitar) and special guest Ittai Binnun (clarinet)
'Makh tsi di eygelekh' (Close your eyes) was composed for the ghetto theatre, and performed in the ghetto by the singer Ella Diament. The song was written by Isaiah Shpigl, a writer-poet-essayist-teacher who survived the Łódź ghetto and Auschwitz (1906-1990) and by the composer-conductor Dovid Beyglman (1887-1944). The reason that survivors of Łódź could not recall the song is because Rumkowski censored the song, and Isaiah Shpigl was threatened with deportation. The song was not performed again.
The song is a lullaby, which was one of the most popular song genres of Yiddish folk and theatre music. In a typical Jewish lullaby, the mother soothens the child to sleep with promises of pleasant times to come. The father is usually absent, off making money for the child’s education; his return, however, is said to be imminent. Shpigl’s composition, turns this concept upside down: father will never come home. The child lies down to sleep in an open field at the mercy of the elements, his parents’ house been burned to the ground.
This is one of the hopeless songs composed for a public audience in the Łódź ghetto. Nature does not smile, God has brought night into the little boy’s world, and wind and hail accompany the child and the singer into the depths of the earth.
The music is a rare form of musical hybrid, a tango-lullaby. Evidently, tango melodies were very popular during the period, and the contrast between the horrifying lyrics and the sweet melody make the song even darker and more frightening.

[@stefaniegodeke3357]

Toda.We stand together now. With sensibility.שיחלךם

[@user-yl3fk3ys9i]

Даже не понимая слов, чувствуется душевность и человечность. Большое спасибо за творчество. Привет из Киева

[@alicetaylor1442]

Lovely!

[@bouboulinadecirta9302]

So moving...Thank you for singing this memory.🙏

[@emmanuelacker7974]

With honor and pity for all little people who don't want to die, jews and armenians

[@zsuzska1224]

Beautiful song in a beautiful presentation, thank you ❤

[@obadijahparks]

It's amusing how the most beautiful things come from the truelly ugly circumstances within this world.

[@melciaoban6454]

Pani Olgo dziś jestem w szkocji , od już wielu lat .me serce płacze co dzień za córeczką 😢 . To co germańcy z moscalami zgotowali ludziom😭😟,te zwyrodnienia (mordowania,złodziejstwo........) żadne słowa tego nie oddadzą. Piękny spokojny wokal.piękne❤

[@miriamzajfman4305]

Dziekuje za te melodie 💞, prosze spiewac wiecej po polsku ! Twoj polski jest nieskazitelny 👌( kiedy spiewasz w Yddish niektore slowa ciezko jest zrozumiec) . Wymowa w Yddish jest bardzo specyficzna jest wiele glosek ktore nie egzystuja w jezyku polskim z hebrajskim juz bedzie ci troche latwiej . Najlepiej jest uczyc sie wymowy od ludzi ktorzy posluguja sie tymi jezykami na co dzien . Pozdrawiam z Kanady 💌

[@slawomirzygmanowski1746]

A dzisiaj jest smutna rocznica Kristallnacht😢

[@esterherschkovich6499]

😢😢😢

[@Olginiam]

tak, dlatego opublikowałam ten utwór

[@x-ray-ich1141]

​​@@OlginiamNiechaj HaShem pośle anioła, by dopomagał Twojemu życiu i był zawsze u boku, niczym tarcza. Amen.

[@beatajakubowska2993]

❤❤❤

[@olafkunert6368]

☮

[@viniciusborgesalcantara2971]

Never forget and never forgive! Baruch Dayan H'Emet!

[@okarchukdavid]

❤🇺🇦❤️🇮🇱 PEACE TO EVERYONE! МИР ВСІМ❤️❤️

[@josechrist3948]

Mazzel u. Broche! Bleyb gesundt u. sey gebenscht von Gott!!!

[@user-cu4on5ir5l]

Nous pleurerons à jamais les victimes d'Auschwitz, de Majdanek, de Belzec, de Sobibor, de Treblinka et de partout. Je suis catholique et je m'incline devant les cendres repandues à l'eau et au vent. 😢😢😢

[@PinchasEidelman-to1ut]

זייער שיין.

[@Judean_Zionist]

Never again. Never again 🇮🇱✡️🕎

[@Romin.777]

Horrible shape the world is in today with all this antisemitism.. 😢 I stand with and bless Ysrael and the Jewish people, the apple of God's eye. And pray for the Shalom of Jerusalem. 🙏🏻❤