Yoysef Kerler was an important post-war Yiddish poet. Born in Ukraine in 1918, he served with the Red Army during WWII. He would later serve five years in the Vorkuta Gulag for so-called "anti-Soviet nationalist activity." Following his release, he became one of the early refuseniks--Jews campaigning for the right to leave the Soviet Union.

TRANSLATION

Gentleness

By YOYSEF KERLER

Translated from Yiddish by Maia Evrona