Vilne

Published in 1935, Vilne, with words by A. L. Wolfson (1867-1946) and music by Alexander Olshanetsky (1892-1946), reportedly was sung at the start of almost every musical program in the Vilna Ghetto.

Vilna: city of spirit and innocence. Vilna: conceived in Jewish ways, where prayers murmured soft nocturnal secrets. I often see you in my dreams, my dearly beloved Vilna: the old Vilna ghetto in a foggy glow. Vilna: our hometown, our longing and desire. How often your name brings a tear to my eye! Vilna streets, rivers, forests, mountains and valleys…Something gnaws at me, makes me yearn for days of long ago. I see the Zakret forest, enveloped in its shadows, where teachers secretly slaked our thirst for knowledge. Vilna sewed the first thread in our flag of freedom and inspired its children with a gentle spirit.