Text by Arnold Schönberg
I cannot remember ev’rything.
I must have been unconscious most of the time.
I remember only the grandiose moment
when they all strated to sing as if prearranged,
the old prayer they had neglected for so many years
the forgotten creed!
But I have no recollection how I got underground
to live in the sewers of Warsaw for so long a time.
The day began as usual: Reveille when it still was dark.
Get out! Whether you slept or whether worries kept you awake the whole night.
You had been separated from your children, from your wife, from your parents;
you don’t know what happened to them how could you sleep?
The trumpets again –
Get out! The sergeant will be furious!
They came out; some very slow: the old ones, the sick ones;
some with nervous agility.
They fear the sergeant. They hurry as much as they can.
In vain! Much too much noise; much too much commotion – and not fast enough!
The Feldwebel shouts: »Achtung! Stilljestanden! Na wirds mal? Oder soll ich mit dem Jewehrkolben nachhelfen? Na jutt; wenn ihrs durchaus haben wollt!«
The sergeant and his subordinates hit everybody:
young or old, quiet or nervous, guilty or innocent.
It was painful to hear them groaning and moaning.
I heard it though I had been hit very hard,
so hard that I could not help falling down.
We all on the ground who could not stand up were then beaten over the head.
I must have been unconscious. The next thing I knew was a soldier saying:
»They are all dead«,
whereupon the sergeant ordered to do away with us.
There I lay aside halfconscious.
It had become very still – fear and pain.
Then I heard the sergeant shouting: »Abzählen!«
They started slowly and irregularly: one, two, three, four
»Achtung!« the sergeant shouted again,
»Rascher! Nochmal von vorn anfangen!
In einer Minute will ich wissen,
wieviele ich zur Gaskammer abliefere!
Abzählen!»
They began again, first slowly: one, two, three, four,
became faster and faster, so fast
that it finally sounded like a stampede of wild horses,
and all of a sudden, in the middle of it,
they began singing the Sema’ Yisroel.
[Shema Yisroel – Prayer]
Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad.
Shema — listen, or hear (according to the Targum, accept)
Yisrael — Israel, in the sense of the people or congregation of Israel
Adonai — often translated as "Lord", it is read in place of the Tetragrammaton
Eloheinu — our God, the word "El" or "Elohei" signifying God (see also: Elohim), and the plural possessive determiner suffix "nu" or "einu" signifying "our"
Echad — the Hebrew word for the number 1
In common with other ancient languages, connective words such as "is", and conventions regarding punctuation, are usually implied rather than stated as they would be in modern English.
This first verse of the Shema relates to the kingship of God. The first verse, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord," has ever been regarded as the confession of belief in the One God. Due to the ambiguities of the Hebrew language there are multiple ways of translating the Shema:
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God! The LORD is One!" and,
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God — the LORD alone."
Many commentaries have been written about the subtle differences between the translations. There is an emphasis on the oneness of God and on the sole worship of God by Israel. There are other translations, though most retain one or the other emphases.
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