Overview
- Description
- Mordecai Gebirtig, born in Krakow in 1877, made his living as a carpenter but was celebrated throughout the Yiddish-speaking world as a folk poet and songwriter-the "troubadour of the Jewish people." During World War II, he continued to write and perform, using the medium of song to chronicle his experiences under the German occupation. In June 1942, Gebirtig, age 65, was shot and killed by German soldiers when he refused to comply with a deportation order.
Gebirtig wrote Our Town is Burning in response to a 1936 pogrom in the Polish town of Przytyk. In retrospect, the song seems prophetic of the Holocaust, but Gebirtig had hoped its message ("Don't stand there, brothers, douse the fire!") would be heard as an urgent call to action. He was reportedly gratified to learn, during the war, that Krakow's underground Jewish resistance had adopted Our Town is Burning as its anthem.
The song Our Town is Burning remains a popular recital piece that is performed at Holocaust commemoration ceremonies around the world. - Alternate Title
- Undzer shtetl brent
- Date
-
Composed:
approximately 1938
- Contributor
-
Lyricist:
Mordecai Gebirtig
Composer: Mordecai Gebirtig
- Biography
-
Mordechai Gebirtig (Yiddish: מרדכי געבירטיג), born Mordecai Bertig (4 May 1877 – 4 June 1942), was an influential Yiddish poet and songwriter of the interwar period. He was shot by Germans in the Kraków Ghetto, which was set up by Nazi Germany formally on 3 March 1941 in the new General Government district of occupied Poland, during the Holocaust.
- Format
- MP3
Physical Details
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
- Copyright
- Copyright Undetermined
- Conditions on Use
- Owner of copyright, if any, is undetermined. It is possible this is an orphan work. It is the responsibility of anyone interested in reproducing, broadcasting, or publishing content to determine copyright holder and secure permission, or perform a diligent Fair Use analysis.
Keywords & Subjects
- Geographic Name
- Kraków (Poland)
Administrative Notes
- Recorded Sound Provenance
- This song was included in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's web exhibition, "Music of the Holocaust" https://www.ushmm.org/exhibition/music/ curated by the Museum's musicologist.
- Recorded Sound Notes
- Performed by Daniel Kempin
- Recorded Sound Source
- Bret Werb
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 07:29:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn671445
Also in "Music of the Holocaust" web exhibition
Songs included in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's web exhibition, "Music of the Holocaust" https://www.ushmm.org/exhibition/music/. Music was heard in many ghettos, concentration camps, and partisan outposts of Nazi-controlled Europe. While popular songs dating from before the war remained attractive as escapist fare, the ghetto, camp, and partisan settings also gave rise to a repertoire of new works. These included topical songs inspired by the latest gossip and news, and songs of personal expression that often concerned the loss of family and home. Classical music—instrumental works, art songs, opera—was also produced and performed during this period, notably by prisoners at the Theresienstadt (Terezín) ghetto and transit camp in Czechoslovakia, as well as in several other ghettos and camps. For many victims of Nazi brutality, music was an important means of preserving and asserting their humanity. Such music—particularly the topical songs—also serves as a form of historical documentation. Like “audio snapshots,” these works offer a telling glimpse into the events and emotions that their creators and original audiences experienced firsthand.
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