Everyone bends their back out of fear
And there is that strange wave of his thick shock of hair,
Where to, where to
Is the old man running?
And what is it that keeps pushing him forward so?
It is his pride, born out of his power
It is the power that keeps turning into his pride
That rules, dictates, from the seat of the Eldest
Doing various shenanigans, fooling and clowning
And keeps pushing, keeps pushing him on, like a ship on the waves
They keep striving forward into the unknown
Dormant in that pride is a great force
That bears an unhealthy love for the redhead⁵⁴³
And so the old man grows younger; it pushes him faster and faster
He cannot hear his own whizzing, trembling when rushing,
And he picks up the pace unaware of the risk,
And mumbles, and waffles, the mad ruling lord
Faster and faster …
They didn’t give him enough …
They didn’t give him enough …
Phew...
Phew...
Ode to the ghetto⁵⁴⁴
Ghetto, Wohlgebiet⁵⁴⁵ mine, you are like health;
How much one should appreciate you, he only finds out
Who looks at you from the distance of history;
He will see you in all of your splendour and glory.
The walls of lies! You who do not reach the subject of boundaries
543 Most probably a reference to Regina Wajnberger-Rumkowska, wife of M. Ch. Rumkowski.
544 Pastiche of Adam Mickiewicz’s introductory part of his epic poem Pan Tadeusz.
545 (German) land of plenty. Allusion to the official name of the ghetto (Wohngebiet, residential quarter).
