***
My life has been sad since childhood.
I was born in a country of great devastation.
My fate was hard:
As a child, I learned what hunger is.
***
The state was created in a bloody struggle:
People were imprisoned for careless words.
Then again the war. Enemies attacked us.
And the cities around suddenly burst into flames.
***
My father died for the Motherland and for the family.
With what difficulty our mother alone raised us.
I think about them when I stand gray-haired
Over the mound of my dear mother's grave.
***
Why did the Lord send torment upon us?
To test us, as we believed and loved.
We have known both grief and deprivation.
Now there is nothing to grieve. So we lived!
We have known both grief and deprivation.
Now there is nothing to grieve. So we lived.