Hear O Israel

Erich Fried

1974

When we were the persecuted
I was one of you
How can I remain one
when you become the persecutors?
Your longing was
to become like other nations
who murdered you
Now you have become like them
You have outlived
those who were cruel to you
Does their cruelty
live on in you now?
You ordered the defeated:
“Take off your boots”
Like the scapegoat…
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Creator Bio

Erich Fried

1921–1988

A poet, novelist, and translator, Austrian-born Erich Fried addressed political and social issues, including Zionism. After fleeing Austria for England in 1938, he became the editor of the periodical Blick in die Welt, while writing prose, verse, radio plays, collections of short stories, and German translations of Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, and Dylan Thomas. Among other honors, he received the Bremer Literature Prize in 1983.

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