We Remember Them - Poem

At the opening of the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition in Vilnius, we included the reading of a poem called "We Remember Them" by Sylvan Kamens & Rabbi Jack Riemer. Shivaun had the idea to have it translated, and Fania Brantsovsky was kind enough to translate it into Yiddish and to read it. Ruta Puisyte felt that it was imperative that it was read in all languages, and by the young, the generation after, and said movingly that this poem reflected how she felt, of the importance of remembering those who were lost and those who are still with us, and that it echoed how she felt within herself and of how those who were lost have become a part of us and of her. Her colleague Indra from the Vilnius Yiddish Institute read it in English. It was so moving to hear those words repeated in Lithuanian, English and Yiddish - we remember them.

 

Fania read the poem in Yiddish...

Ruta read it in Lithuanian...

Indra read it in English

"We Remember Them"

At the rising of the sun and at its going down
We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
We remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring
We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer
We remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn
We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength
We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart
We remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share
We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make
We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.