as well as in HaShomer HaTzair, but never took on a formal political role. He played a major part in the design and construction of several Holocaust museums, including the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv. He died in 1987 (aged 69) of laryngeal cancer, perhaps due to his lifelong heavy smoking, at his home in Ein HaHoresh. He was survived by his wife, Vitka Kempner, who married Kovner in 1946, and their two children. Legacy Kovner's book of poetry ("Ad Lo-Or", ), 1947, describes in lyric-dramatic narrative the struggle of the Resistance partisans in the swamps and forests of Eastern Europe. Ha-Mafteach Tzalal, ("The Key Drowned"), 1951, is also about this struggle. Pridah Me-ha-darom ("Departure from the South"), 1949, and Panim el Panim ("Face to Face"), 1953, continue the story with the War of Independence. Kovner's story is the basis for the song "Six Million Germans / Nakam", by Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird. Kovner testified about his experiences during the war at the trial of Adolf Eichmann. Awards and honors In 1968, Kovner was awarded the Brenner Prize for literature. In 1970, Kovner was awarded the Israel Prize for literature. In 1986, Kovner was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works. Further reading See The Modern Hebrew Poem Itself (2003), See My Little Sister and Selected Poems, trans. Shirley Kaufman (1986), See The Avengers (2000), by Rich Cohen, See also Anna Borkowska Alexander Bogen Bielski partisans List of Israel Prize recipients Nakam References Bibliography Dina Porat, The Fall of a Sparrow: The Life and Times of Abba Kovner (Palo Alto, Stanford University Press, 2009). . External links Chronicles of the Vilna Ghetto: wartime photographs & documents – vilnaghetto.com Abba Kovner Biography Abba Kovner and Resistance in the Vilna Ghetto Abba Kovner - World War II Partisan and Founder of The Avengers 1918 births 1987 deaths People from Ashmyany Belarusian Jews Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Ethnic cleansing of Germans Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Israeli poets Israel Prize in literature recipients Brenner Prize recipients Hebrew-language poets Kibbutzniks Jewish poets Soviet partisans Jewish partisans Vilna Ghetto inmates Haganah members Israeli military personnel Israeli people of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War 20th-century poets Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works Nakam Deaths from cancer in Israel Deaths from laryngeal cancer People from Vilna Governorate Prisoners and detainees of the British military