Daloy Politsey

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Daloy Politsey (Yiddish: דאַלוי פּאָליציי, lit. 'Down with [the] Police'), also known as In Ale Gasn (Yiddish: אין אַלע גאַסן, lit. 'In Every Street') is a Yiddish-language anti-authoritarian protest song. 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; Hey Hey Daloy Politsey and In Ale Gasn respectively. The modern song was recorded in 1980 by Zalmen Mlotek for the documentary film Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists.^[1] 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 movement.^[1] The two songs were sung during the Russian revolutions as a rallying cry for Revolutionary Socialist and Anarchist Jews.^[1]

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 and/or industrial action, 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.^[1]

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, and specifically calls for the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas.^[1] Originally the song was sung with a leader singing verses (often improvised) and a chorus speak-singing the refrain in a call and response format.^[1] Daloy Politsey also critiques so-called "useful Jews", 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 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; thus linking back to the origins of the song and its meaning.

Following the Ibiza affair in 2019, the Austrian Bundist Isabel Frey composed a version of the song during and for the subsequent protests.^[2] 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.^[2]

In 2021 the now defunct Yiddish anarchist cafe Pink Peacock based in Glasgow had a complaint about the café displaying in its window a pink tote bag with the words "fuck the police" in English and the Yiddish "Daloy Politsey" (דאָלוי פּאָליציי) on the reverse,^[3] which in turn led Police Scotland to visit the cafe's founders Morgan Holleb and Joe Isaac's home.^[4] Holleb was subsequently charged with breach of the peace, and Glasgow police seized one of the tote bags from Pink Peacock as evidence.^[4][5][6] After the seizure, which was publicised in local media and on Pink Peacock's Twitter account, the café sold out of the bags.^[7] The British "neo-Bundist" Jewish Socialists' Group 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".^[6]

Recordings

• Soundtrack to Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists, arr. Zalmen Mlotek with unknown, 1980^[8] Recording [first known recording]
• In Love And In Struggle: The Musical Legacy Of The Jewish Labor Bund, featuring Zalmen Mlotek, Adrienne Cooper, Dan Rous with The New Yiddish Chorale and The Workmen's Circle Chorus, 1999^[1] Recording [translates some verses into English]
• Fayvish, Yiddpop featuring Alan Bern & Paul Brody, 2010 Recording
• Victory Party, Geoff Berner, 2011 Recording [in English]
• Millennial Bundist, Isabel Frey, 2020 Recording [includes verses in German]
• Zing!, Rajtaraj, 2021 Recording

Lyrics

Note: the italicised lines are repeated as a couplet

References