God Hid His Face

Reyzl Zychlinsky

1948

All roads led to death,
Every road.
All winds breathed betrayal,
Every wind.
In every doorway, vicious dogs barked,
In all the doorways.
All the waters laughed at us,
All the waters.
Every night grew greasy with our fear,
Every night.
And the heavens were naked and empty,
All the heavens.
And God hid his face.

Translated by
Kathryn
Hellerstein
.
Please login or register for free access to Posen Library
Register
Already have an account?
Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

Reyzl Zychlinsky

1910–2001

Born in Gombin, Poland, Reyzl Zychlinsky began her poetic career in 1928 and flourished through the 1930s, mentored by Itsik Manger and Melekh Ravitch. She moved to Warsaw and eventually escaped the Nazi occupation in 1940, marrying the psychiatrist Isaac Kanter a year later and surviving the war in the Soviet Union. With her family murdered at Chelmno, Zychlinsky moved to France and later, in 1951, to the United States. She received the Manger Prize for Yiddish Literature in 1975.

Related Guide

Jewish Culture in Postwar Europe

1945–1973

As European Jewish communities tried to rebuild after the Holocaust, they faced new challenges and forged identities distinct from those in Israel and the United States.

You may also like

Urn

This urn will be made of fired clay Of native soil, from Poland, my country In it are lodged the ashes of my parents My brothers, daughter, and wife. The urn will be simple, like a jug With a small…
View Source

Amputation

And so its pain is unremitting, like an amputated leg This ash and feathery void chafes at us, They say two willows were seen in Mazowsze wearing green prayer shawls also a market stall in the middle…
View Source

Todesfuge (1944–45)

Black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night we drink and we drink we shovel a grave in the air there you won’t lie too cramped A man lives in…
View Source

Babi Yar

Had I fastened The cradle on a rafter, And rocked it—and rocked it. My little son, my Yankl. But the house has vanished Into a fiery dome, How then can I rock My little son, my own? Had I…
View Source

The Vigil

This is a night of vigil for me, in the shudder of my soul I shall conceal the secret of my youth. I shall stand on guard: No sleep nor slumber! And in just one moment the veil was taken away. A…
View Source

Dawns

I am only this song that you place on my lips. I am yours: yours my arms, yours my legs, Yours my hands, yours my belly, my loins, Yours my breasts, yours my teeth, yours my lips, Yours my tongue…
View Source