"Shtil, di nakht iz oysgeshternt" ("Quiet, the Night is Full of Stars"; yi, שטיל, די נאַכט איז אױסגעשטערנט) or "Partizaner lid" ("Partisan Song") is a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

song written in summer 1942 by

Hirsh Glick Hirsch Glick (1922 in Wilno, Poland – 1944 in Estonia) was a Jewish poet and partisan. Glick was born in Wilno in 1922 (at the time a part of inter-war Poland). He began to write Yiddish poetry in his teens and became co-founder of '' Yungvald ...

, a young

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish inmate of the

Vilna Ghetto The Vilna Ghetto was a World War II Jewish ghetto established and operated by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius in the modern country of Lithuania, at the time part of the Nazi-administered Reichskommissariat Ostland. During the approximatel ...

. It is set to a Russian folk melody. It is a love song that starts with conventional lyrics about a quiet night and sky full of stars, but quickly turns to the realities of war. The song is addressed to a beautiful woman who succeeded in ambushing a Nazi convoy. The song celebrates

Vitka Kempner Vitka Kempner ( he, ויטקה קובנר; 14 March 1920, Kalisz – 2012) was a Polish Jewish partisan leader during World War II. She served in the United Partisan Organization (Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye) and, alongside Rozka Korczak ...

, a Jewish partisan, and her successful attack, an act of

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

, on a German train in the Vilnius sector. It was the first attack by the

Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye The Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye ( yi, ; "United Partisan Organization"; referred to as FPO by its Yiddish initials) was a Jewish resistance organization based in the Vilna Ghetto that organized armed resistance against the Nazis during ...

(FPO), organization of Jewish partisans from the Vilna Ghetto. Kempner and Itzik Matskevich threw a

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

at the convoy damaging it. The snow and frost mentioned in the lyrics are poetic liberties as the attack occurred in summer 1942. The song is noted for its celebration of a woman partisan – active fighting and resistance were not traditional roles for a woman, even during the war. Ruth Rubin also noted the use of three words – ''shpayer'' (a local word from Vilnius), ''nagan'' (a Russian term referring to

Nagant M1895 The Nagant M1895 Revolver is a seven-shot, gas-seal revolver designed and produced by Belgian industrialist Léon Nagant for the Russian Empire. The Nagant M1895 was chambered for a proprietary cartridge, 7.62×38mmR, and featured an unusual "ga ...

), and ''pistoyl'' – to denote an automatic pistol. Perhaps this was meant to show multiculturalism of the region. It appears on

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

's '' We Shall Overcome - The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert.,'' recorded June 8, 1963, under the title ''Schtille Di Nacht'' in listings.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book, first=Mark , last=Abley , title=Spoken Here: Travels among Threatened Languages , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyyyybR6RmwC&pg=PT290 , page=215 , publisher=Vintage Canada (Random House of Canada) , year=2004 , isbn=9780307368232 {{cite book , first1=Tina , last1=Frühauf , first2=Lily E. , last2=Hirsch , publisher=Oxford University Press , year=2014 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jfs_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 , title=Dislocated Memories: Jews, Music, and Postwar German Culture , page=104 , isbn=9780199367481 {{cite book , first=Shirli , last=Gilbert , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqEVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 , title=Music in the Holocaust: Confronting Life in the Nazi Ghettos and Camps , publisher=Clarendon Press , year=2005 , page=75 , isbn=9780199277971 {{cite book , first=Ruth , last=Rubin , title=Voices of a People: The Story of Yiddish Folksong , year=1979 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWJiUNy-jeUC&pg=PA460 , page=460 , publisher=University of Illinois Press , isbn=9780252069185 {{cite book , last=Silverman , first=Jerry , publisher=Syracuse University Press , year=2001 , title=The Undying Flame: Ballads and Songs of the Holocaust , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LWZni-dTJcsC&pg=PA96 , isbn=978-0-815-60708-3 , pages=96–97 {{cite book, first=Milton , last=Teichman , title=Truth and Lamentation: Stories and Poems on the Holocaust , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZ6NO84ytJEC&pg=PA248 , page=248 , publisher=University of Illinois Press , year=1994 , isbn=9780252063350 {{cite web, url=https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/music/partisan-song.asp , title=Partisaner Lid – Partisan Song , publisher=Yad Vashem , work=Heartstrings: Music of the Holocaust , accessdate=2022-01-24

External links

Lyrics in Yiddish, French, and English
Vilna Ghetto Songs about the Holocaust Songs of World War II Soviet partisans Songs in Yiddish 1942 songs Yiddish culture in Lithuania Anti-fascist music Works about women in war

See also

References

External links