Día de shabbat, la tadre, la horica dando dos, fuego salió al Agua Mueva, Salonik ya se quemó. Ya te dije, mancebico, los pecados de sabbat, se ensañó el Patrón del mundo, mos mandó a Dudular. Mos estamos sikleiando, mos juimos ande el inglés, por ses grosicos al día y un pan para comer. Laborando, laborando, ya mos viene 'l aieroplán, mos estamos espantando, mos vamos al Estiklal. El Estiklal lleno d'agua, ya mos viene fin' al bel, mos estamos espantando, no mos caiga la yulé. Mos dieron unos chadires que el aire los avoló, mos dieron un pan amargo, ni con agua mos entró. Día de sabbat, la tadre, por decir la havdalá, con los bogos en la mano, a la puerta la civdad.
On the day of Sabbath, in the afternoon,
at the little hour striking two,
fire broke out at Agua Mueva,
Salonika was already burning. I already told you, young man,
the sins of the Sabbath,
the Master of the world grew angry,
He sent us to Dudular. We are desperate,
we went to where the English are,
for six groschen a day
and a loaf of bread to eat. Working, working,
now the airplane is coming to us,
we are frightened,
we are going to the Istiklal. The Istiklal is full of water,
the water has reached our hips,
we are frightened,
may the flood not fall on us. They gave us some tents
that the wind blew away,
they gave us a bitter bread,
not even with water could it go down. On the day of Sabbath, in the afternoon,
as we were about to say the havdalah,
with our bundles in our hands,
at the gate of the city.
From Arboleras vol. 3, Sephardic songs from the 20th century, 2000 The fires left a deep mark on the communities affected by the disaster; in the songs, there are numerous references to the events related to the destruction of Salonica. The most significant was the fire of 1917, which destroyed much of the Jewish quarter and forced the population to emigrate. Dudular, today known as Diavata, is a small town near Saloniki, which today as well has many refugees. Istiklal is a famous area in Istambul. The present version was collected in Jerusalem in 1978 at the Retirement Center of Mizrahi Mashe, where it is still sung.
This website was created by Orit Perlman with the collaboration and blessings of Dr. Susana Weich-Shahak in 2025