Alexander Wolkowiski (later Tamir) was born 1931, in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 1942, as an eleven-year-old boy, he composed a Yiddish song called Shtiler, shtiler (Quiet, quiet; also known as Ponar in Hebrew), for a music competition held in the Jewish ghetto. The song was set as a lullaby in order to confuse the Nazi occupiers. Many of the intended singers were killed before they could compete. The story of this episode and Tamir's return to his birthplace is told in the Israeli film Ponar.
He changed his name to Tamir after settling in Jerusalem after World War II.
Died 2019.