SHMERKE KACZERGINSKI (1908-1954) was a prolific Yiddish writer, musical artist, and cultural leader from Vilna (now Lithuania). As a young man he had strong communist ties and many of his stories reflect his liberal ideology. He was one of the early founders of Yung-Vilne, a group of young independent artists from Vilna. During the Nazi reign, Kaczerginski continued producing art and songs, despite the tribulations of living in the Vilna ghetto. His song “Shtiler, shtiler” (1943) was written in memory of the Ponary massacre in which the Nazis murdered over 75,000 Jews, Soviet prisoners of war and political opponents.
Shmerke Kaczerginksi (1908-1954)
In 1943, Kaczerginski, along with other organized fighters, escaped the ghetto in order to join a partisan group in the Naroch forests of Belarus. Many of his books, including Ikh bin geven a partizan(1952), were written about his life during the Holocaust. After World War II, Kaczerginski went to live in Lodz, Poland, assembling and publishing organized collections of songs and stories written by Jews during the Holocaust. Soon after, he settled in Argentina and continued his prominence as a Jewish cultural leader. In 1954, Shmerke Kaczerginski was killed in a plane crash. His collections and own compositions remain among the most important accounts of the Holocaust and are still widely lauded today. (adapted from the YIVO Encyclopedia)
Stonehill Collection Audio Tracks Relevant to Kaczerginski (either as performer or composer):
0033. Pak zikh ayn (Pack Up)
0067. Makh tsu di eygelekh
0068. Medley
0069. Moes moes iz a gute zakh copy
0070. Barricades
0071. Shtiler shtiler
0072. Strassenhofe yidn
0073. Der yid der partisaner
0074. Yisrolik dos kind fun geto
0075. Yugnt hymn
0076. Zog nisht keynmol sung by Kacz
0085. Der veg iz shver, mir vaysn Kaczerginski
0086. Habeysmeshumayim
0087. Dos zangl
0088. In Joint kumt tsu geyn a yid (copy)
0151. Fray shvimen shifn af yamen svet geshen Shmuel Levy
0176. In tzayt fun vintn groye mir shpanen
0177. Introductions-shtiler
0178. Broyt
0179. Groye vintn Broide
Stonehill Jewish Song Archive 