Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)

Subject: "Wo Ahin Soll Ich Geh'n?" Yiddish
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 04:09 PM

This request concerns the thread about the Shoah / Holocaust.

The renowned singer Leo Fuld made a well-known recording of this song,
however the writers are other people, it appears:

Oscar Strock wrote the music;
"Kortnayer" was the poet, who may have been a casualty of the Warsaw ghetto.

The title may be spelled either

Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn
or
Wo Ahin Soll Ich Geh'n
these seem to be two spellings of the same Yiddish lyric.

If this were rendered, in Hoch-Deutsch,
Wohin Soll Ich Gehen
it would mean
Whither Shall I Go.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Kortnayer/Strock)
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 04:23 PM

I have located one verse and one chorus for this song
on a book online,
and will post them here
(unless someone else beats me to it)

the book is
An Everlasting Name:
A Service for Remembering the Shoah
author: Adam Fisher

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Kortnayer/Strock)
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 04:34 PM

VU AHIN ZOL IKH GEYN

Der yid vert geyogt un geplogt
Nisht zikher iz far im jeder tog
Zayn lebn iz a finstere nakht
Zayn shtrebn alts far im iz farmakht

Farlozn bloyz mit sonim keyn fraynd
Keyn hofenung on a zikhern haynt


CHORUS

Vu ahin zol ikh geyn
Ver kon entfern mir
Vu ahin zol ikh geyn
Az farshlosn z'yede tir

S'iz di velt groys genug
Nor far mir iz eng un klein
Vu a blik
Kh' muz tsurik
S'iz tseshtert yede brik

Vu ahin zol ikh geyn

Words attributed to "Korntayer" often misspelled "Kortnayer"
Music from Oskar Strok's tango (Blue Eyes)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Kortnayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 04:36 PM

Wikipedia on Korntayer. Excerpts:

Igor S. Korntayer, S. Korn-Teuer, born in the 1890s, killed by the Nazis c. 1941.

He is best known for the song Vu ahin zol ikh geyn? (Where Shall I Go?) written with "tango-king" Oskar Strock.

He died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Kortnayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 04:41 PM

English translation, from hebrewsongs:

WHERE CAN I GO?

The Jew becomes rushed and flown
unsure is for him each day
his life is a sinister night
his aspirations, all is closed to him
Seems every door is closed for me.
The Jew is persecuted at every turn,
there is no room for him

Chorus
Where can I go to?
Who can answer me?
Where can I go to?
When every door is locked
The world is big enough
Only to me it's small and crowded
like a glance I must go back.
each bridge is blocked
Where can I go to?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Kortnayer/Strock)
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 04:49 PM

Sorry this was not attached to the post with the lyric.
From the OCLC World Cat website,
the bibliography:

copyright 1950 New York: Metro Music

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Kortnayer/Strock)
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 04:58 PM

One of the few sources of info on Yiddish author Korntayer (a pseudonym?)
is online, it is also in Hebrew for those who can read Hebrew
(don't look at me)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Kortnayer/Strock)
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 05:03 PM

sorry about that!! again, this is in Hebrew

Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre

Subject: ADD: Vi Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Kortnayer/Strock)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 05:36 PM

Interesting song. It can also be found under the title "Vi Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn." I wouldn't say whether "Vi" or "Vu" is correct - both are transliterations.

VI AHIN ZOL IKH GEYN
(Words: O. Strock; Music: S.Korn-Tuer)

Der yid vert geyogt un geplogt
Nisht zikher iz far im yeder tog:
Zayn lebn iz a finstere nakht:
Zayn shtrebn alts far im iz farmakht.
Farlozn bloyz mit sonim, kayn fraynt,
Kayn hofnung, on a zikhern haynt.

Vi ahin zol ikh geyn?
Ver kon entfern mir?
Vi ahin zol ikh geyn,
Az farshlosn z'yede tir?
S'iz di velt groys genug,
Nor far mir iz eng un kleyn
Vi a blik,
Kh'muz tsurik,
S'iz tsushtert yede brik:
Vi ahin zol ikh geyn?

©1950 by Ethnic Music Publishing Co., Inc., Carlstadt, New Jersey

Source: Great Songs of the Yiddish Theater, edited by Norman H. Warembud (©1975, Ethnic Music Publishing Company) published by Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., page 216

Notes: Born in the cafes of Europe, where it found a place with touring theatrical companies, this song was brought to America by Menashe Oppenheim. It is a world favorite.

Translation:
Tell me, where can I go?
Seems every door is closed for me.
The Jew is persecuted at every turn,
There is no room for him.

Here's a recording by the Barry Sisters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPyUkUMAPao

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 05:51 PM

That Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater - but it's in Hebrew characters I wish there were a button I could click to automatically transliterate the book. I really should learn the Hebrew alphabet. I can usually understand printed or spoken/sung Yiddish, but the Hebrew characters are a stumbling block that I should be able to resolve with relative ease. All I need to do is learn the alphabet, right? Only 22 letters....

I was quite pleased that I could understand Yiddish when I heard it in Jerusalem when I was there in December.

So, when Yiddish is printed in Hebrew characters, does it read from right to left? I think so, but I'm not completely sure.

Here's a great page on transliteration/romanization: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_orthography#The_Yiddish_alphabet. I scanned it, but didn't see whether Yiddish is right to left when it's in Hebrew characters.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 06:50 PM

The Lexicon is in Hebrew letters, but in the Yiddish language. "Vi" and "Vu" are, I think, both correct, or rather in one dialect of Yiddish "Vi" is correct, and in another dialect, "Vu" is correct. Yiddish in Hebrew characters is written right to left.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 04:12 AM

I should have mentioned in my last post that it's common in Hebrew and in Yiddish to leave out the vowels. The 22 letters Joe Offer refers to are the consonants. The vowels are dots and lines written underneath the vowels but, as I say, often left out. So knowing the 22 letters isn't sufficient for pronouncing the words. You have to know the vocabulary to know what the vowels are.

There's a recent recording of Vi Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn by Miriam Fuks, on her CD, Ver Bin Ikh, Avanti Classic 5414706 10352. She sings another verse, where the speaker decides that Israel is home, and is the place to go. I don't know who wrote that verse, nor when.

The lyrics are here, with that extra verse, in transliterated Yiddish. Here is that verse. I'll post a translation, if I can find one.

Dort ahin vel ikh geyn tsu mayn land vu s'iz fray
Dort ahin vel ikh geyn boyen vel dir af s'nay
A land vi yidishkayt blit lebn vet dort fray
Der yid yisroel undzer heym
Der yid lebt fray un ayngenem
Dort ahin vel ikh geyn.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 04:19 AM

There's a long list of recordings of this song, some in English, here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 08:52 AM

Yiddish has many words from Hebrew, which are spelled to Ashkenasian custom, without vowels. For all other words, whether from German or other languages, some Hebrew characters are "abused" to represent vowels, quite phonetically, so that different dialects will result in different spellings.

Note that nowadays Yiddish language is used by non-native speakers and writers to transport political and ideological content, similar to, say, the Goidelic languages. We cannot criticize this altogether, but must be aware that it does not come from an uninterrupted tradition.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 09:05 AM

I should add that most such languages are being used for more than just one political issue, often sharply opposed to each other. Not all ardent speakers of Brooklyn dialects are fond of "Yisroel". It reminds me of Russian publishers in Paris of the 1960s: their political views could often be deduced from their orthography.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: robomatic
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 10:43 AM

Grishka:
Interesting subject. Can you direct me to some explicative sources?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 10:50 AM

robomatic, which one of those subjects? My favourite saying is "Google is my scholarship".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: robomatic
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 11:28 PM

Where you wrote:

"... that nowadays Yiddish language is used by non-native speakers and writers to transport political and ideological content, similar to, say, the Goidelic languages.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 09 Mar 19 - 02:27 AM

robomatic, I think there is ample evidence for my statement in Wikipedia and other sources. I am using the term "non-native speakers" for persons who do have some Yiddish-speaking background, but whose everyday language is the language of the country they were brought up in, such as the USA, Israel, or Russia.

In Israel and its predating Jewish settlements, speaking Yiddish used to be strongly discouraged, therefore the language became an emblem of anti-zionist orthodoxy. Reacting to this, zionists discovered the potential of the language and produced or commissioned "folk" literature in it. Examples see above. As usual, other political aspects were added, such as conflicts inside Israel, inside the Jewish community worldwide, and with non-Jewish communities.

Many Mudcatters are unaware of political cultures outside their immediate vision; therefore I added the (admittedly somewhat lame) comparison with Gaelic. Anyone who is really interested will have no difficulty finding more information. Unfortunately I cannot claim to be an expert beyond what I wrote now.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 09 Mar 19 - 02:31 AM

For those who cannot be bothered to read Wikipedia, here a quotation from it: "Members of anti-Zionist Haredi groups such as the Satmar Hasidim, who view the commonplace use of Hebrew as a form of Zionism, use Yiddish almost exclusively."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 09 Mar 19 - 03:58 AM

We're getting a bit off-topic here, but what the heck. Grishka, I thought the Haredi use Yiddish not out of anti-Zionism, but because they consider Hebrew to be the holy language, to be used only in prayer, not for everyday affairs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Gehn (Korntayer/Strock)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 09 Mar 19 - 04:23 AM

I was merely quoting. Goes to show that all aspects of culture will be seen as intertwined, whether their respective activists want it or not.