4 minute read
Zoog mir in Churban Yiddish
By Sol Awend, GenShoah SWFL
It’s been said that some 50,000 books have been written about the Holocaust.
One more such book that is shortly to be published has to do with Yiddish and what the language went through during that terrible time.
The book, written by Hannah Pollin-Galay*, is entitled “Occupied Words: What the Holocaust Did to Yiddish.” During an in-depth lecture last year, she detailed and outlined the changes Yiddish underwent during the cruel and unusual circumstances during the Holocaust. It’s important to note that Pollin-Galay is a noted writer and assistant professor of literature at Tel Aviv University. She speaks of this phenomenon called Churban Yiddish: Holocaust Yiddish.
Just as our people suffered and were overcome, so, too, did our Mameh Looshen. For more than 1,000 years, through centuries of wandering, through both good times and bad, Yiddish was always there. Like a good friend, Yiddish was there to express feelings, share knowledge, create laughter and convey what it meant to be Ah Yeed.
When the war broke out, everything changed terribly for the worse. Ghettos were formed and people were hustled into them, along with whatever belongings they could bring. People began disappearing while their belongings didn’t. After a while, they went missing, too, and a term was created for that loss: Shabren. Even the term for clothes took on a less than respectable meaning.
In the camps, normal people were confined in abnormal situations and forced to behave crudely to survive. In Auschwitz alone, some 40 languages were said to have been spoken, but just like the Jews, Yiddish suffered greatly. Yiddish was heard and used to describe less than honorable situations. Since the camp was run by corrupt and unsavory characters, their behavior was reflected in their treatment of people around them. Once decent people were treated brutally, which caused them to behave in ways better not mentioned. Even terms dealing with the crematoriums and their smoke stacks had their own names and were used in shunting people towards their demise.
As Primo Levy, the noted survivor and writer once said, “Where violence is inflicted on man, it is also inflicted on language.”
What’s amazing is the effort placed on defining and following this transformation of Yiddish. After the war, in spite of all the deprivation and upheaval, Jews actually wanted to come to grips with their language and how it had changed. Dictionaries dealing with Churban Yiddish were written to better explain and outline what had occurred during the war. It was as if “you needed one Churban Yiddish word to describe another.”
It is a fascinating subject, and looking back at growing up with my parents, I remember hearing words used in less than respectful situations.
A few words in Churban Yiddish
SHAB reh ven/Sha BROV nikess (stealing/ ones doing the stealing)
Shabrovnikes zenen geh gaangen shabreven in leidehkeh haazeh. (“Thieves” went to “steal” from empty houses. The reason for the quotation marks is that it was rationalized that if it was ownerless, then how could it be “stealing?”)
Chooc’hes – Chew c’hess (abandoned and threadbare clothes and coats.)
Shabrovnikes ob’n geh nimmen vifil chooc’hes zei ob’n geh kent troogen. (“Thieves” took as much clothing as they could carry.)
Drong – Drawng (a heavy billy club)
Deh kapo ot geh shlook’t mah tateh mit ah drong. (The kapo beat my father with a drong.)
Kapo – KAH po (a concentration camp inmate appointed by the SS to be in charge of a work gang. The word “Kapo” originates from the Italian “Capo” (head, leader).)
Deh kapo iz geh vaysen ah shlaac’hteh mensch. (The kapo was a bad person.)
Yooshnyik – YOOSH nik (literally means pig feed, watery soup)
Deh yooshnyik ih geh vayzen ahveh bridik vaaseh. (The soup was more like dirty water.)
* Hannah Pollin-Galay is a noted writer and contributor to various periodicals about the Yiddish language.