Tates, mames, kinderlekh

Tates, mames, kinderlekh (Yiddish: טאַטעס מאַמעס קינדערלעך, 'Fathers, mothers, children'), also known as Barikadn (באַריקאַדן, 'Barricades'), is a Yiddish song from the 1920s associated with the socialist General Jewish Labour Bund movement.^[1]^[2] The song describes a workers' strike in Łódź; as men, women and children joined in to construct barricades in the streets of the city.^[1]^[3] Tates, mames, kinderlekh was written by Shmerke Kaczerginski, who later became a Communist Party activist and a partisan fighter.^[1]^[2] Kaczerginski was only 15 years old at the time the song was written in 1926. The song rapidly became widely popular in the Jewish community in Poland.^[2]

Lyrics[]

טאַטעס מאַמעס קינדערלעך בױען באַריקאַדן

אױף די גאַסן גײען אַרום אַרבעטער־אָטריאַדן

ס׳איז דער טאַטע פֿרי פֿון שטוב אַוועק אױף דער פֿאַבריק

וועט ער שױן אין שטיבעלע ניט קומען הײַנט צוריק

ס׳ווײסן גוט די קינדערלעך דער טאַטע וועט ניט קומען

ס׳איז דער טאַטע הײַנט אין גאַס מיט זײַן ביקס פֿאַרנומען

ס׳איז די מאַמע אױך אַוועק אין גאַס פֿאַרקױפֿן עפּל

שטײען אין קיך פֿאַריתומטע די טעלער מיטן טעפּל

ס׳וועט ניט זײַן קײן וועטשערע זאָגט חנהלע די יאַטן

ווײַל די מאַמע איז אַוועק צוהעלפֿן דעם טאַטן

tates, mames, kinderlekh, boyen barikadn,

oyf di gasn geyen arum arbeter-otryadn.

s'iz der tate fri fun shtub avek oyf der fabrik,

vet er shoyn in shtibele nit kumen haynt tsurik.

s'veysn gut di kinderlekh, der tate vet nit kumen,

s'iz der tate haynt in gas mit zayn biks farnumen.

s'iz di mame oykh avek in gas farkoyfn epl,

shteyen in kikh faryosemte di teler mitn tepl.

— s'vet nit zayn keyn vetshere — zogt khanele di yatn, —

vayl di mame iz avek tsuhelfn dem tatn...

Fathers, mothers, children, raising barricades,

Workers' battalions taking to the streets.

Father left home early, to the factory gone,

Won't be coming home to us any time too soon.

The kids know well the reason why father won't return,

He's taken to the streets today and brought along his gun.

Mother too is in the street, off to sell some apples,

Leaving orphaned in the kitchen all the pots and dishes.

Don't expect to eat, says Khanele to the boys,

Because Mother has gone to help Father...

^[2]

External links[]

Recording of Tates, mames, kinderlekh

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c Haaretz. Stone-throwing, an old Jewish custom
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Finder, Gabriel N., Natalia Aleksium, Antony Polonsky, and Jan Schwarz. Polin: A Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies. Vol.20. London: Littman Library, 2008. pp. 395-396
^ Jewish Currents, Vol. 53. Jewish Currents, 1999. p. 27

[h-1] Haaretz. Stone-throwing, an old Jewish custom

[p-2] Finder, Gabriel N., Natalia Aleksium, Antony Polonsky, and Jan Schwarz. Polin: A Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies. Vol.20. London: Littman Library, 2008. pp. 395-396

[3] Jewish Currents, Vol. 53. Jewish Currents, 1999. p. 27

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