Mentshn-freser

In di lungen tif bagrobn voynt di blase pest Di batsiln, di mikrobn boyen zeyer nest Fresn undzer layb un lebn frukhpern zikh pek Un mir muzn zelbst farshvebn far der tsayt avek Un mir filn vi mir geyen shtil un langzam oys Un di shmertsn un di veyen zaynen shreklekh groys Un di finstere makhshoves gresern dem shmerts
Yorn ligt der malekh hamoves tif bay undz in herts.
Xx
Mikrobn batsiln vos vilt ir? Zogt vemes shlikhes derfilt ir?
Ir frest di korbones gor on a rakhmones, in bliyende lebn nor tsilt ir!
Ir bodt zikh in trern fun veyner ir tsit oys di markh fun di beyner
Ir samt di gederem ir krikhende verim, mikrobn batsiln vos vilt ir?

Nokh a shreklikhe mageyfe geyt fun land tsu land
Mit di shnelkeyt fun a sreyfe fun a fayer-brand!
Kleyne kinder nemt es samen, eyfelekh fun brust
Roybt avek fun tatn-mamen zeyer lebens-lust
Makhtloz iz dem mentshns zinen, s'blaybt di khokhme shtil
S'iz keyn mitl tsu gefinen gegn a batsil!
Vos paralizirt di kinder, undzer lebns-shayn
Mir dervartn gotes vunder, s'zol dos mer nit zayn!

Kep gekroynte, diplomatn, um tsu hobn zig,
Tsvingen undz tsu zayn soldatn, traybn undz in krig!
Yunge mentshn in milionen tsoln zeyer prayz
Un es vert far di kanonen zeyer fleysh a shpayz!
Un tsukripelte, un toyte, faln do un dort
naye lebns ongegreyte filn oys dem ort
Un in groyse tife kvorim pakt men laykhes fil
Un di hersher, di keysorim, shpiln shakhmat shpil

The pale pestilence lives deeply buried in the lungs
The bacilli, the microbes build their nest
They gobble us up, body and soul, and multiply a lot
And we must ourselves dwindle/fade away before our time
And we feel how we're expiring quietly and slowly,
and the suffering and crying are terribly great.
And the dark thoughts increase the pain.
For years the Angel of Death lies deep in our hearts.

Macrobes, bacilli, what do you want? Whose mission are you carrying out?
You gobble the victims mercilessly, you aim only at blooming lives
You bathe yourselves in the tears of those who weep, you suck the marrow from the bones
You poison the entrails, you crawling worms. Microbes, bacilli, what do you want?

Another terrible epidemic goes from land to land
With the speed of a blazing fire from a piece of burning wood.
It poisons little children, infants at the breast,
It robs fathers and mothers of their hearts' cheer.
Man's mind is powerless, wisdom is silenced.
Nothing can be found to stop a bacillus.
It paralyzes children, the light of our lives,
We await God's miracle that this should never come again.

Crowned heads and diplomats, in order to be victorious, force us to be soldiers,
They drive us into battle.
Young people by the millions pay their price and their flesh becomes cannon fodder.
And the crippled and dead fall here and there; new lives are prepared to take their place.
And in great deep graves many bodies are packed.
And the rulers, the kings, play chess.