Zog Nit Keyn Mol (Yiddish: זאָג ניט קיין מאָל) (also referred to as Partizaner Lid or "Partisan song") is the name of a Yiddish song written in 1943 by Hirsh Glick, a young Jewish inmate of the Vilna Ghetto. The song is considered one of the chief anthems of Holocaust survivors and is sung in memorial services around the world.
The title means "Never Say", and derives from the first line of the song, "Never say that you have reached the final road." During World War II, "Zog Nit Keynmol" was adopted by a number of Jewish partisan groups operating in Eastern Europe. It became a symbol of resistance against Nazi Germany's persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust.
Hirsch was inspired to write the song by news of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The lyrics Glick wrote were later set to music by brothers Pokrass, Dmitri and Daniel. The music was actually written earlier than the lyrics, in 1935, for the song "Одесская Походная" (Odessa March Song), also known as "То не тучи - грозовые облака" ("Those aren't just clouds - they are storm clouds"), by Aleksey Surkov about the Russian Civil War. That song was first performed by the well known Soviet singer Leonid Utyosov.
In March 2011 the Israeli band Gevolt released a metal album AlefBase which, among others, includes Zog Nit Keynmol.
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English translation Never say this is the final road for you, |
Yiddish in transliteration zog nit keyn mol, az du geyst dem letstn veg, |
Original Yiddish זאָג ניט קיין מאָל, אַז דו גייסט דעם לעצטן וועג, |