HOME PAGE – THE PLAY-TEXT
– CAST LIST – PRESS REVIEW – THE JEW OF MALTA –TWO SONGS
JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES – AN ACCOUNT OF
THE DEPORTATIONS – THE JERUSALEM OF THE BALKANS
LES JUIFS DE SALONIQUE…
A song, extracted from one of our scenes:
The Song "Panathema to Ermano"
FIRST COMEDIAN ACTOR: OK. So, music… Do you
like our little tune? We like our little tune. In fact we like it so
much that we thought we might teach it to you too. Complete with the words!
Don't be shy. We'd like you to join in.
So. Maestro, can we
have a chord or two?
OK. Now it's very easy.
[The First Comedian Actor takes them through
a line at a time]
"Panathemá, themá to ermano
Pou skotos' ólo, olo to tzidhio
Kai to 'steile na paei sti Krakovia
Na pethá, na petháni nistikó"
[At this point the actors freeze. An Actress
speaks:]
ACTRESS –
[A pause]
Already we knew about Hitler's concentration
camps. In 1943, while living in Salonica, I heard my Greek compatriots saying
to their Jewish fellow citizens: "The Germans are going to make soap out
of you."
[A pause]
Neither the lyric-writer nor the composer are
known. The song probably had three or four verses. I only remember some of
them. I remember the tune of the song much better.
[A pause]
I too sang this macabre song, trying, as we all
did, to imitate the pronunciation and mistakes typically made by the
Spanish-speaking Jews when speaking Greek.
FIRST COMEDIAN ACTOR: And now, ladies and
gentlemen, the translation. [The roll comes down, with the translation]
FIRST COMEDIAN ACTOR: [After a brief pause]
Nice, eh? "Down with the Germans"… Anathema… Like a curse… The
Greeks didn't like the Germans, you see. And then what? … "Killed all the
yids…" Yids. "Tzidhio" …"Giudeo…" Same word as
"Yid". International… "And sent them all off to Krakovia… to die
of starvation." Krakovia? We'll see about that in a minute…!
++++++++++++++++++++
A song from the Resistance:
The Song "I
Eleftheria Ine Scholio"
I leftheriá ine scholió
I leftheriá ine scholió
Kai poiós tha ti spoudhásei, Kalamatianí?
Kai poiós tha ti spoudhásei, roússa kai xanthí?
Pigá k'egó, kai spoudhasa
Pigá k'egó, kai spoudhasa
Kai vghíka enás andártis, Kalamatianí.
Kai vghíka enás andártis, roússa kai xanthí?
O ti kai an eícha, tó' dhosa
O ti kai an eícha, tó' dhosa
Ghonioús, ghnostoús kai fílous, Kalamatianí.
Ghonioús, ghnostoús kai filous, roússa kai
xanthí.
Kai pira to touféki mou,
Kai pira to touféki mou,
Kai sta vouná mas vghika, Kalamatianí.
Kai sta vouná mas vghika, roussa kai xanthí.
TRANSLATION
Freedom is like a school
And who will study it?
Kalamatiani, red-head and blonde…
I went and I studied it,
And I joined as a partisan.
Kalamatiani, red-head and blonde…
I gave up whatever I had,
My relations, friends and acquaintances.
Kalamatiani, red-head and blonde…
And I took my rifle,
And I went up into the mountains.
Kalamatiani, red-head and blonde…
[We have the music for both these songs in
stave notation. Too complicated to format it for this website. If you want a
copy, please contact [email protected]]