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lyrics

Bernie and Sylvia, brother and sister, in a little town in the Polish Ukraine
It was 1942 the Germans marched in, nothing would be ever be the same
They were 9 and 11, their mother had died, a couple years before, nobody knows why
Their father Jankel and Uncle Usher were tall and strong, known throughout the countryside

Their father argued with a local policeman, a stupid thing to do, to pick a fight
That week a man named Sandrick gave them a warning that a mob would kill them tonight
Now they bundled up the kids, and the old grandmother, walked into the forest in the Polish Ukraine
They made no fire that would give off any smoke, in hiding in the forest they remained

After a few weeks, venturing out to a farm, to take some potatoes just to stay alive
They found out all the other Jews in their village were marched to ditch then shot and died
The father and uncle swam frozen rivers, for miles in search of food they’d go
They almost didn’t make it back one time and the grandmother died in the snow

When Jankel and Usher made it back, Bernie and Sylvia were barely warm
By good luck a farmer decided to help, a night or two sleeping in the barn
But most of the time they were out in the forest, sleeping in the snow, in the rain and sleet
Bernie asked his father will there ever come a time when we will sit at a table and eat

His father replied, there will come a time, when you’ll even have herring with black bread and jam
And if we can just stay here a little while longer, the Germans will be gone from this land
Two years passed, in the forest they hid, it’s hard to conceive of this living hell
Sylvia remembers when they cut off her pigtails, those pigtails walked away by themselves

Moving thru the forest, to beat back the Germans, a small group of Russian partisans
Came across the four wandering souls, who by then could hardly stand
They told them to go to the town of Manievich, and they would be safe for the rest of the war
The Russians had no great love for the Jews, but hated the Germans even more

They were there for four years and then emigrated, to a relative in Montreal
Leaving the ghosts of a thousand little towns, and too many of the dead to recall

Bernie went to school and became an attorney, he married and had children 1 2 3 4 5
Sylvia also got married and also had five children, it’s amazing that Bernie and Sylvia survived

Sylvia doesn’t talk about the war years much, and her daughter Helen is now my wife
And Bernie just died at the age of 80, such a strange and improbable life

Bernie and Sylvia, brother and sister, in a little town in the Polish Ukraine
It was 1942 the Germans marched in, nothing would be ever be the same

© 2013 M. Skliar

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from Singing the obvious to the oblivious, released April 20, 2014

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mike skliar New York, New York

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