The Poetry of Abraham Sutzkever (Vilno Poet): Read in Yiddish

Raised in Vilno (Vilna), the "Jerusalem of Lithuania," Abraham Sutzkever (1913–2010) experienced the two most significant events involving Jews during the 20th century: the Holocaust and the birth of the State of Israel in 1948. The first half of the recording reflects his experiences during the Holocaust, while the second half contains his personal reflections and experiences of modern Israel, in which he settled in 1947. Almost all of his poetry was written in his native Yiddish, the primary secular language of the Jews of Eastern Europe.

The liner notes provide a biography of Sutzkever and information about Vilno; for each poem, there is an English synopsis and explanation, followed by the poem itself, in Yiddish.

Track Listing

101	The Schoolteacher Mira	Abraham Sutzkever	04:24
102	A Wagon of Shoes	Abraham Sutzkever	01:54
103	The Lead Plates of Rome Printing House	Abraham Sutzkever	01:46
104	So Should You Speak to the Orphan	Abraham Sutzkever	03:20
105	Yiddishe Gass	Abraham Sutzkever	02:19
106	Playthings	Abraham Sutzkever	01:10
107	Were I Not With You	Abraham Sutzkever	00:48
201	The Snows of Mount Hermon	Abraham Sutzkever	01:24
202	Deer at Dead Sea	Abraham Sutzkever	01:02
203	Petitions on the Grave of Rabbi Simeon Yechoi	Abraham Sutzkever	01:32
204	The Well of Prophecy	Abraham Sutzkever	01:38
205	At the Memorial in Yad Mordecai	Abraham Sutzkever	01:04
206	In Sinai Desert	Abraham Sutzkever	08:54