This video is dedicated to Shmaryahu “Shmerke” Kaczerginski; a poet, writer, political activist, partisan from the Vilna Ghetto, and so much more.  Born in 1908 and orphaned six years later, Shmerke was educated in Vilna’s Talmud Torah school for needy Jewish children.  By the age of fifteen Kaczerginski published original songs and poetry which showcased his perception and intuitive understanding of the society he lived in.  This skillful writing ability served him well when in 1942 the young writer was forced into the Vilna Ghetto, where his keen observations created a vivid portrait of the daily struggles, resiliency and spirit of the Vilna Ghetto inhabitants.

In 1942 Shmerke married Barbara Kaufman in the Vilna Ghetto. Following her untimely death in April of 1943, Shmerke wrote the following poem dealing with the universal themes of love, loss and longing.  The man who spent his days documenting the sorrows of others, now found himself documenting his own. The title of the song “Friling”  (Springtime) stirringly depicts Kaczerginski’s inability to deal with the loss of his wife-the person who helped him forget the horrors of the ghetto, if only for the short time they spent together. Without Barbara, Shmerke realizes all that he has lost, and is further able to understand the despair so many around him have already suffered.

Shmerke’s emotional lyrics are paired with a beautiful melody composed by Abraham Brudno, creating a poignant song that captures mankind’s greatest gift and most basic necessity, love, and what happens when it is lost. This rendition of “Friling” is sung by Chava Alberstein, and features film footage from the Vilna Ghetto and Holocaust sites throughout Lithuania.