Zog nit keynmol az du geyst dem letstn veg Never Say That You Have Reached the Final Road
Creator(s)
- Daniel Pokrass (Composer)
- Hirsh Glik (Lyricist)
- Dmitri Pokrass (Composer)
Scope and Content
News of the Warsaw ghetto uprising of April 1943 inspired the Vilna poet and underground fighter Hirsh Glik (ca. 1921-ca. 1944) to write Never Say That You Have Reached the Final Road (the Yiddish title is often shortened to Zog nit keynmol). With a melody taken from a march tune composed for the Soviet cinema, the song spread quickly beyond the ghetto walls and was soon adopted as the official anthem of the Jewish partisans. Glik was later deported to an Estonian labor camp and is presumed to have lost his life during an escape attempt. His song remains a favorite at Holocaust commemoration ceremonies worldwide. This early recording of Never Say That You Have Reached the Final Road features vocalist Betty Segal, who later became a well-known Israeli stage and cinema actress. A native of Vilna and a survivor of the Vilna ghetto and several labor camps, Segal recorded Never Say That You Have Reached the Final Road for the Munich Jewish Historical Commission, ca. 1946.
Note(s)
Performed by Betty Segal, with Akiva Daykhes, concertina, ca. 1946
Genre
- Music.
- Recorded Sound