''Daloy Politsey'' (), also known as ''In Ale Gasn'' () is a Yiddish-language

anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism. Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil liberties. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with anarchism, an ideology which entails opposing a ...

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. ...

. The modern commonly known & recorded version of the song is actually a combination of two different protest songs from the late 19th and early 20th century

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

; ''Hey Hey Daloy Politsey'' and ''In Ale Gasn'' respectively. The modern song was recorded in 1972 by the Yiddish Youth Ensemble (Susan Finesilver, Betty Glaser, Judy Gottlieb, Khane Kliger, Moishe Mlotek, Moishe Rosenfeld, Dina Schwartzman, Josh Waletzky; Musical Director: Zalmen Mlotek) on their album of ''Yiddish Songs of Work and Struggle'' (1972, vinyl). The recording later appeared in the soundtrack for the documentary film '' Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists''. As such the song is often rendered as ''In Ale Gasn/Daloy Politsey'' to highlight this combination. The two songs were historically associated with the Bundist movement (although none of the lyrics are explicitly Bundist) along with the

Jewish anarchist This is a list of Jewish anarchists. Individuals See also *Jewish anarchism Notes References * * * * * * * Further reading * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jewish anarchists Jewish * Anarchists Anarchism is a political philosop ...

movement. The two songs were sung during the

Russian revolutions The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It ...

as a rallying cry for

Revolutionary Socialist Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolu ...

and

Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

Jews.

Content

''In Ale Gasn''

The first two verses of the combined song come from ''In Ale Gasn. In Ale Gasn'' by itself was a labour song that calls for a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

and/or

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increas ...

, a common occurrence at the time in Imperial Russia; especially within the Jewish population. The earliest scribed versions of the song appear in two different collections of Yiddish folk songs from Kiev from 1933 and 1934 respectively.

''Daloy Politsey''

The rest of the song, including its refrain, come from ''Daloy Politsey.'' The song itself was first scribed around the time of the

1905 Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, and specifically calls for the overthrow of

Tsar Nicholas Tsar Nicholas may refer to: * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), Emperor of Russia from 1825 to 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russi ...

. Originally the song was sung with a leader singing verses (often improvised) and a chorus speak-singing the refrain in a

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

format. ''Daloy Politsey'' also critiques so-called "

useful Jew The term useful Jew was used in various historical contexts, typically describing a Jew useful in implementing an official authority's policy, sometimes by oppressing other Jews. * In 1744, Frederick II of Prussia introduced the practice of limiti ...

s", highlighting how despite climbing the social ladder from a street cleaner to a capitalist, there is still a need for systemic change.

Use in contemporary political activism

Geoff Berner Geoff Berner (born 1971) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician from Vancouver. Musical career Berner originally studied piano in his youth. At a party, somebody asked him why he did not play the accordion. As a result, he began learni ...

recorded a version of the song, mostly sung in English bar the refrain of "''Hey, hey, daloy politsey!''", with the added addition "''It means the same thing now as yesterday. Out of your houses into the streets, everybody say fuck the police!''" to said chorus. The song talks of the death in police custody of Ian Bush, as an example of

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

; thus linking back to the origins of the song and its meaning. Following the

Ibiza affair The Ibiza affair (), also known as Ibiza-gate, was a political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache, the former vice chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), as well as Johann Gudenus, formerly a deputy lea ...

in 2019, the Austrian Bundist

Isabel Frey Isabel Frey is an Austrian singer, ethnomusicologist and peace activist. She sings in Yiddish. In 2023, she co-founded the Jewish-Arab peace initiative "Standing Together Vienna". In 2020, she ran for district council in the historically Jewish Le ...

composed a version of the song during and for the subsequent protests. She sang the song, which included the chorus: "Hey, hey, down with HC and down with the new OVP. Get out on the streets despite the snow and rain. Today is Strache's last day." at a protest in May 2019. In 2021 the now defunct Yiddish anarchist cafe

Pink Peacock Pink Peacock (Yiddish: , ) was a café and infoshop in the Govanhill area of Glasgow. Described by its founders as "Anti-Zionism, anti-Zionist" and "the only queer Yiddish anarchist vegan pay-what-you-can café in the world", it opened physical ...

based in Glasgow had a complaint about the café displaying in its window a pink

tote bag A tote bag is a large, typically unfastened bag with parallel handles that emerge from the sides of its pouch. Totes are often used as reusable shopping bags. The archetypal tote bag is made of sturdy cloth, perhaps with thick leather at its h ...

with the words " fuck the police" in English and the Yiddish "Daloy Politsey" () on the reverse, which in turn led

Police Scotland Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottis ...

to visit the cafe's founders Morgan Holleb and Joe Isaac's home. Holleb was subsequently charged with

breach of the peace Breach of the peace or disturbing the peace is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public order England, Wales and Norther ...

, and Glasgow police seized one of the tote bags from Pink Peacock as evidence. After the seizure, which was publicised in local media and on Pink Peacock's Twitter account, the café sold out of the bags. The British "neo-Bundist"

Jewish Socialists' Group The Jewish Socialists' Group (JSG) is a Jewish socialist collective in United Kingdom, Britain, formed in the 1970s. History JSG was founded in Manchester/Liverpool in 1974–1977 as a lobby group campaigning against the fascist British Nation ...

sent a statement of solidarity to Pink Peacock, highlighting the origins of the phrase from the song and its use in against "antisemitism and state repression in Tsarist Russia".

Recordings

* Soundtrack to ''Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists'', arr.

Zalmen Mlotek Zalmen Mlotek (; born June 15, 1951, in the Bronx, New York) is an American conductor, pianist, musical arranger, accompanist, composer, and the Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF), the longest continuous running ...

with unknown, 198
Recording
irst known recording*''In Love And In Struggle: The Musical Legacy Of The Jewish Labor Bund'', featuring Zalmen Mlotek,

Adrienne Cooper Adrienne Cooper (September 1, 1946 – December 25, 2011) was a Yiddish singer, musician and activist who was integral to the contemporary revival of klezmer music. In addition to her work as a Yiddish singer she was the assistant director at ...

Dan Rous Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

with

The New Yiddish Chorale ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

and

The Workmen's Circle The Workers Circle or Der Arbeter Ring (), formerly The Workmen's Circle, is an American Jews, Jewish nonprofit organization that promotes social and economic justice, Jewish community and education, including Yiddish studies, and Ashkenazi Jews, ...

Chorus, 1999Recording
ranslates some verses into English* ''Fayvish'', Yiddpop featuring

Alan Bern Alan Bern (Bloomington, Indiana, 1955) is an American composer, pianist, accordionist, educator and cultural activist, based in Berlin since 1987. He is the founding artistic director of Yiddish Summer Weimar and the Other Music Academy (OMA). He ...

Paul Brody Paul Brody (born in 1961 in Seattle) is a US-American sound installation artist, composer, trumpeter, and writer based in Berlin. His work explores the relationship between spoken word and melody through radio art, Sound installation, composition ...

, 201
Recording
*'' Victory Party'',

, 201
Recording
n English*''Este Infierno'', Bestiärio (Band), 201
Recording

n Spanish N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

*''A Little Letter'', Brivele, 201
Recording
dditional verses in English* ''Millennial Bundist'',

, 202
Recording
dditional verses in German* ''Zing!'', Rajtaraj, 202
Recording
* ''Venti'', , , and , 202
Recording

Lyrics

Yiddish original

Additional verses

In some recordings, an English verse (along with the Yiddish verses) is sung:FTP in der Gasn from A Little Letter by Brivele
''Brivele.bandcamp.com''.

References

{{Reflist Bundism Jewish socialism Songs in Yiddish Bundist songs Russian anthems 1905 songs 1933 songs 1934 songs Yiddish culture in Poland Jews and Judaism in the Russian Empire Anarchist songs Socialist songs Protest songs Songs against capitalism Trade union songs Political songs