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Songs of the ghettos, concentration camps, and World War II partisan outposts

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It’s Cold, Sir! (Zimno, panie!)

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Sachsenhausen concentration camp, 1944

Lyrics by: Aleksander Kulisiewicz

Music by: Camp adaptation of an unidentified tune

Language: Polish


Performed by Aleksander Kulisiewicz

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    “It's cold, Sir. There's no bread.” (Wiktor Siminski, ca. 1947).  Artist Siminski had known Kulisiewicz at Sachsenhausen and, at his urging, sketched several scenes of camp life from memory soon after the war.

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    It’s Cold, Sir!

    In Sachsenhausen, a number of upper-class Poles sought to preserve their social advantages by courting favors from the camp command. Kulisiewicz rebukes two such prisoners—“Lulusinski” and the…

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    The US Holocaust Memorial Museum may use your comments for educational, research, and Museum purposes, including publication. A selection of comments may be posted on our website, at our discretion.

  • “It's cold, Sir. There's no bread.” (Wiktor Siminski, ca. 1947).  Artist Siminski had known Kulisiewicz at Sachsenhausen and, at his urging, sketched several scenes of camp life from memory soon after the war.

    “It's cold, Sir. There's no bread.” (Wiktor Siminski, ca. 1947). Artist Siminski had known Kulisiewicz at Sachsenhausen and, at his urging, sketched several scenes of camp life from memory soon after the war. —Hachiro Sakanishi, Ecce Homo (Tokyo, 1972). All rights reserved.

 Close

“It's cold, Sir. There's no bread.” (Wiktor Siminski, ca. 1947).  Artist Siminski had known Kulisiewicz at Sachsenhausen and, at his urging, sketched several scenes of camp life from memory soon after the war.

“It's cold, Sir. There's no bread.” (Wiktor Siminski, ca. 1947). Artist Siminski had known Kulisiewicz at Sachsenhausen and, at his urging, sketched several scenes of camp life from memory soon after the war.
—Hachiro Sakanishi, Ecce Homo (Tokyo, 1972). All rights reserved.

In Sachsenhausen, a number of upper-class Poles sought to preserve their social advantages by courting favors from the camp command. Kulisiewicz rebukes two such prisoners—“Lulusinski” and the “Count”—in this brief song from 1944. Both “aristocrats” had betrayed members of the Polish Communist underground to the Reich Criminal Police Office, leading to the arrest of several inmates. In turn, other camp elites denounced Kulisiewicz to the authorities for writing and performing his derisive song. He was removed from his barrack in the middle of the night in February, 1945, and interrogated by the SS Police. The “Beggars Block” named in the song's first line was camp slang for an enormous barrack housing 600-800 prisoners.

Listen to

  • Black Böhm (Czarny Böhm)
  • Heil, Sachsenhausen
  • Mister C
  • Muselmann—Cigarette Butt Collector (Muselmann—Kippensammler)
  • My Gate (Moja brama)
  • Second Helping (Repeta)

Related Links

  • Aleksander Kulisiewicz

  • Sachsenhausen concentration camp (article in the USHMM’s Holocaust Encyclopedia)

Aleksander Kulisiewicz

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