In the 1920s and 1930s, Yiddish was one of the official languages in Belarus, alongside Belarusian, Polish, and Russian. Together with Belarusian, it was the language of the “tuteishyya,” the locals, expressing not power but rootedness, a sense of belonging. It was also a living language of poets and writers. For Yiddish poets, Belarus was not just a setting but a theme, a homeland, a cultural lens: they wrote about it, within it, and for it. Today, this vibrant layer of Belarus’s multilingual heritage is almost forgotten.
Building on this legacy, Yiddish Veršes is a music album based on Yiddish poetry of Jewish poets from Belarus in the first half of the twentieth century. Seven contemporary Belarusian artists transform these long-sidelined texts into original compositions across genres — from dreamy dub and electronic to art-rock and rap. The project is initiated by Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center in partnership with music label Radio Plato.