Terezin polka

Terezin polka 1./ I know a road I know, it leads home, home for you and me; When I take it once again, my favorite loved places I will see. I?d go there like I am, maybe on foot, not by car, not me. I know each twist I know, its markers I will counting be. Refrain: After the bridge I?ll turn, I?ll turn, and look one last time at Terezin, and say goodbye to what's been, And standing straight I?ll go, smiling still to meet my new life, lo. 2./ The trees have lost their leaves, I don?t understand why my return home so desired, isn?t at hand. Each morning I say, I?m another day closer To the sun shining, and everyone embracing. The gates will open again, and to the ramparts I?ll say goodbye then. I don?t know who wrote the polka. Before I left for Auschwitz, I also took part in Terezin's cultural life. I sang for Rafael Schächter in "The Bartered Bride" in "The Kiss" in "The Czech Song" and in the ?Requiem? by Giuseppe Verdi. Initially we practiced in a cellar, where the piano was. We were organized by voice, and got parts that someone was rewriting. The National Artist Karel Berman would come to sing the solo bass parts, later he picked fifteen girls, among them also me, and with him we prepared the opera ?Lumpacivagabundus? and the ?Moravian Duets.? We sang in attics and in our spare time, as well as in the gymnasium of the former Sokol Hall. I also saw Hans Krasa's ?Brundibar" the kid that played the role of Pepicek, used to come over and helped Schächter turn the pages of the notes.