Birth in a Time of Bloodshed

Lullabies in times of conflict reveal insights into the influences of war on the domestic realm. Lullabies give voice to women whose fears of war are realized. War came to their homes, leaving death and destruction in its wake. These songs are women’s testimony to these times.  One of the characteristics which makes lullabies an powerful genre is the fact that the stories they tell are an expression of the  extreme inner turmoil of those singing them.
 

This is apparent in the following excerpts:

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“I saw your father running
Under a hail of stones,
Over fields flew
His orphaned cry.
Lu-lu, lu-lu, lu....”



From “Dremlen Feigel” a Yiddish Lullaby from the Vilna Ghetto by Lea Rudnitski

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“Little hungry baby - do not cry!
Little hungry baby - hush-a-bye!
Yes! I know my child, there is no bread.
Yes, know your father’s murdered, dead!
And I know your brother is a “slave”;
But a Belgian baby must be brave!”

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 “A Belgian Lullaby” dated to World War I

In this lullaby it is not the mother who sings to the baby, rather it is a stranger who has assumed caring for the child.



“Yerznka was filled with smoke,
Our condition became lamentable,
So many people were sacrificed,
We fled from Yerznka,
We left our crops, home and kins.
Oh! Sleep, sleep, sleep!
Motherless lamb, sleep!
Fatherless child, sleep!
Ownerless child, sleep!”

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Lullaby from the Armenian Genocide 1915
Written down by Verjine Svazlian

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These lullabies were composed in the context of trauma and contain stark contrasts, the melody communicates sweetness and love, while the words relate fear and darkness.It is the lyrics that can really express the pain of parenting in the worst of  times. The devastating psychological effects on these mothers and children have far reaching effects on the societal fabric and on all levels of human interaction and relationships.

 

 

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Millions and millions of mothers and their children have been murdered, disabled, made  homeless and separated from their families during the 20th century. It is my hope that we can draw attention to the suffering of these mothers and children through lullabies, both in the past and present and create strands of connection that can be related to universally and thus profoundly realize the futility of war and its horrific effects.