Shtiler, shtiler

'Shtiler, shtiler’ (Hush, hush), composed by the 11-year-old Alek Volkoviski with lyrics by Shmerke Kaczerginski, was one of the best-loved songs of the Vilna ghetto. The lullaby was first performed in April 1943, at one of the last Jewish Council-organised concerts before the ghetto’s liquidation. The poignant lyrics chronicle the murders taking place at Ponar, a forest near Vilna, and lament the pain and suffering of the ghetto inmates.

A version of this song can be listened to from the Jewish Music Archive at SaveTheMusic.com