"Five Songs"

(This one’s risky, but what are you gonna do?)

In 1933, Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany, and the nightmare began. Stripped of their jobs, their rights and their freedom, the Jews were conscripted into hard labor, digging peat, which is coal, out of pits, they called bogs. To keep up their spirits, they adopted a name. They called themselves, “The Peat Bog Soldiers.”

Far and wide as the eye can wander

Peat and bog are everywhere

Not a bird sings out to cheer us

Oaks are standing, gaunt and bare.

We are the Peat Bog Soldiers

Marching with our spades

To the bog.

Up and down the guards are pacing

No one, no one can get through

Flight would mean a sure death facing

Guns and barbed wire greet our view.

We are the Peat Bog Soldiers

Marching with our spades

To the bog.

But for us there is no complaining

Winter will in time be past

Someday soon we will cry rejoicing

Homeland dear you’re mine at last.

Then will the Peat Bog Soldiers

March no more with their spades

To the bog.

And then it got worse. The Jews were rounded up and herded into ghettos. Many surrendered to their oppression. Still others fought back.

Never think this present journey is your last

When heaven’s skies and all above are overcast

Because the day which we have hungered for is near

And our footsteps will re-echo we are here

Because the day which we have hungered for is near

And our footsteps will re-echo we are here.

It’s with our blood and not with ink we wrote this song

No sparrow sang it flying merrily along

But in the blazing hell of Nazi conquered lands

Our people sang this song with rifles in their hands

But in the blazing hell of Nazi conquered lands

Our people sang this song with rifles in their hands.

So never think this present journey is your last

When heaven’s skies and all above are overcast

Because the day which we have hungered for is near

And our footsteps will re-echo we are here

Because the day which we have hungered for is near

And our footsteps will re-echo we are here.

Later, the ghettos were evacuated, and their inhabitants crowded into cattle cars, and transferred to the camps. They were scared. And they were confused.

On a wagon bound for market

There’s a calf with a mournful eye

High above him flies the swallow

Proud and swiftly up in the sky.

How the winds are laughing

They laugh with all their might

Laugh and laugh the whole day through

And half the summer’s night.

Dona dona dona dona

Dona dona dona doh

Dona dona dona dona

Dona dona dona doh.

“Stop complaining,” said the farmer

“Who told you a calf to be?

Why don’t you have wings to fly with

Like the swallow so proud and free?”

How the winds are laughing

They laugh with all their might

Laugh and laugh the whole day through

And half the summer’s night.

Dona dona dona dona

Dona dona dona doh

Dona dona dona dona

Dona dona dona doh.

Calves are easily bound and slaughtered

Never knowing the reason why

Not all creatures like the swallow

Have the power to learn to fly.

How the winds are laughing

They laugh with all their might

Laugh and laugh the whole day through

And half the summer’s night

Dona dona dona dona

Dona dona dona doh

Dona dona dona dona

Dona dona dona doh.

In 1945, the Nazis were defeated, and the insanity ended. For the Jews, redemption was at hand. But they would have to fight for it.

Day and night the storm is raging

We stand grim and battle scarred

Fearless fighters, we stand and attack

We strike fast and we strike hard.

From Mettulah to the Negev

Cross the desert to the sea

Every man a daring warrior

Fights that Israel be free.

Always first and never tiring

Our young nation with our lives we guard

For we are the striking force of Palmach

We strike fast and we strike hard.

And then it was over. After two thousand years of degradation and abuse, a people would finally have a home.

Oh sing a song of victory, Israel

Oh sing it out forever, Israel

Oh sing of all the glories of the past

For we have found our promised land at last.

Or ring a bell and tell the world we’re free

And tell them all we paid for liberty

No other people paid a price so high

To see the star of David in the sky.

Rejoice

Lift up your voice

Our dream was not in vain.

Oh, Lord, help us rebuild

Our temple once again.

Oh sing of those who fought at every gate

And through the years endured a world of hate

Oh sing of peace in which we all shall dwell

Sing it out

Forever

Is-ra-el.

(There are people who are not happy that the State of Israel exists. If you’re interested in a history describing the conditions that led to its formation, I recommend a book called Emancipation by Michael Goldfarb.)