Coolies

This Yiddish song was written by Sh. Sheynkinder and composed by Goldberg. The first part takes as its subject the plight of Chinese unskilled labourers (Coolies), and over the background of a 1930s Oriental-kitsch melody, it depicts a British imperialist impression of a rickshaw runner. The lyrics go on to portray the pitiable state of the Jewish inmates of the Warsaw ghetto, who had to use rickshaw transportation to get around the overcrowded ghetto after trams were taken out of use.