Kaczerginski, a Yiddish-speaking poet born in 1908 who is responsible for preserving over 250 Holocaust songs, dedicated much of his time after the start of the Second World War to collecting pre-war Yiddish songs and songs of the Holocaust in order to save Yiddishkeit from destruction.
Shmaryahu "Shmerke" Kaczerginski (Yiddish:  ; 28 October 1908  23 April 1954) was a Yiddish-speaking poet, musician, writer and cultural activist. The author, editor or publisher of most of the first post-Holocaust songbooks, Kaczerginski was responsible for preserving over 250 Holocaust songs  the majority of those still known. Renowned during his lifetime as a poet and writer, Kaczerginski dedicated much of his time after the start of the Second World War to collecting pre-war Yiddish songs and songs of the Holocaust in order to save Yiddishkeit from destruction. 
