Shtil di nakht iz oysgeshternt

The beautiful song 'Shtil di nakht iz oysgeshternt' (The silent night is filled with stars) was written by the young Vilna poet Hirsh Glik, who also wrote the enduringly popular 'Zog nit keynmol az du geyst dem letstn veg' (Never say that you are walking the final road). Glik was an active member of the underground resistance in the ghetto, and wrote this song to commemorate the partisans' first successful act of sabotage. His lyrics focus on the heroic actions of the female partisan Vitke Kempner.

“Shtil, di nakht iz oysgeshternt" taken from the CD Rise up and fight! Songs of Jewish Partisans (1996), courtesy of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (www.ushmm.org).