Image by youtube

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, the latter’s national anthem, hauntingly called ‘Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished’, has become a song of protest against Russian aggression throughout Ukraine and around the world.

The anthem, whose melody was adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament in 1992 and its lyrics – 12 years later, has been translated into a number of languages, including a Yiddish version.

In the video above, which was posted on YouTube in 2010, a Hebrew teacher asks the children which special birthday it is that day. The correct answer is Ukrainian Independence Day. At once the children rise and begin singing the anthem in Yiddish.

The anthem originates from a 19th century Ukrainian poem which was set to music. But singing and performing the song was banned when Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the song was revived and officially adopted as the national anthem in 2003.

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