Ber Horvitz Translations of Holocaust Poems

Translations of Holocaust poems by Ber Horvitz aka Ber Horowitz Der Himmel "The Heavens" by Ber Horvitz loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch These skies are leaden, heavy, gray ... I long for a pair of deep blue eyes. The birds have fled far overseas; tomorrow I’ll migrate too, I said ... These gloomy autumn days it rains and rains. Woe to the bird Who remains ... *** Doctorn "Doctors" by Ber Horvitz loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Early this morning I bandaged the lilac tree outside my house; I took thin branches that had broken away and patched their wounds with clay. My mother stood there watering her window-level flower bed; The morning sun, quite motherly, kissed us both on our heads! What a joy, my child, to heal! Finished doctoring, or not? The eggs are nicely poached And the milk's a-boil in the pot. *** Broit “Bread” by Ber Horvitz loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Night. Exhaustion. Heavy stillness. Why? On the hard uncomfortable floor the exhausted people lie. Flung everywhere, scattered over the broken theater floor, the exhausted people sleep. Night. Late. Too tired to snore. At midnight a little boy cries wildly into the gloom: "Mommy, I’m afraid! Let’s go home!” His mother, reawakened into this frightful palace, presses her frightened child even closer to her breast … "If you cry, I’ll leave you here, all alone! A little boy must sleep ... this is now our new home.” Night. Exhaustion. Heavy stillness all around, exhausted people sleeping on the hard ground. *** My Lament by Ber Horvitz loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Nothingness enveloped me as tender green toadstools are enveloped by snow with its thick, heavy prayer shawl … After that, nothing could hurt me … Ber Horowitz (1895-1942): Born to village people in the woods of Maidan in the West Carpathians, Horowitz showed art talent early on. He went to gymnazie in Stanislavov, and then served in the Austrian army during WWI, where he was a medic to Italian prisoners of war. He studied medicine in Vienna and was published in many Yiddish newspapers. Fluent in several languages, he translated Polish and Ukrainian to Yiddish. He wrote poetry in Yiddish. A victim of the Holocaust, he was murdered in 1942 by Nazis, although the details are not known.