Das Moorsoldatenlied (Peat bog soldiers' song) also "Das Lied der Moorsoldaten" (The song of the Peat bog soldiers) was written in 1933 in the Bürgermoor concentration camp, one of the first concentration camps. An "Emergency decree for the security of the people and the state" was issued the day after the
Reichstag fire, which allowed members of the
KPD (German
Communist Party) to be detained without trial. Bürgermoor was mainly filled with political prisoners, members of the KPD and some members of the
NSDAP (The
Nazi Party).
They were forced to sing pro-Nazi songs, such as
the Horst Wessel song. In their spare time, the prisoners sang their own songs. They were also occasionally granted cultural evenings, to perform to highten morale. In August 1933 one was organised, called "Zirkus Konzentrazani" (A play on words with the word for concentration camp). It is the first place the Moorsoldatenlied was performed.
Wolfgang Langhoff (a future director of the German theatre) asked
Johann Esser to compose lyrics that would not be objectionable to the guards, but which portrayed concentration camp life. The music was written by
Rudi Goguel, in the camp
hospital after his
comrades had faked an injury for him.
Wohin auch das Auge blicket,
Moor und Heide nur ringsum
Vogelsang uns nicht erquicket,
Eichen stehen kahl und krumm.
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten und ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor!
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten und ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor!
Auf und nieder geh'n die Posten,
keiner, keiner kann hindurch.
Flucht wird nur das Leben kosten!
Vierfach ist umzäunt die Burg.
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten und ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten und ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.
Doch für uns gibt es kein Klagen,
ewig kann's nicht Winter sein.
Einmal werden froh wir sagen:
Heimat, du bist wieder mein!
Dann zieh'n die Moorsoldaten nicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor.
Dann zieh'n die Moorsoldaten nicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor.
Far and wide as the eye can wander,
bog and moor are everywhere
Not a bird sings out to cheer us,
oaks are standing gaunt and bare.
We are the peat bog soldiers, we're marching with our spades to the bog.
We are the peat bog soldiers, we're marching with our spades to the bog.
Up and down the guards are pacing,
no one, no one can break through
Flight would mean a sure death facing,
guns and barbed wire greet our view.
We are the peat bog soldiers, we're marching with our spades to the bog.
We are the peat bog soldiers, we're marching with our spades to the bog.
But from us there's no complaining,
winter will in time be past
One day we shall cry, rejoicing:
"Homeland dear, you're mine at last!"
Then will the peat bog soldiers march no more with their spades to the bog.
Then will the peat bog soldiers march no more with their spades to the bog
There are two versions in particular, the Concentration camp version, which had melody by Rudi Goguel. There was also an external verison, arranged in London by Hans Eisler, after an escaped inmate told him about the song. As the inmate was not overly musical, Eisler mistuck the song for a workers' song from the
30 years war. The refrain is the same in both versions, with the concentration camp version being more monotonous "to portray the heavy march of the prisoners through the bog" (Rudi Goguel in an interview with
Radio Goethe).
By the end of the
war Goguel was no longer thinking of the song, and the first time he came across it again was while staying at the
Bodensee. He turned on the radio, and heard the refrain as the station's identifier. "I found out it was the themesong of the German radio broadcast, and after some years I finally learnt what a fantastic journey this song had made throughout the world".
The song was
mandatory learning in
East Germany after the war, along with many other
anti-fascist songs. Many people have released this song, one of the more modern groups to do so was "Die Schnitter" (A word for manual labourers, specifically
harvesting crops), who updated the song to be a modern,
dancable track. It is on the 2nd Radio Goethe
compilation disk, and their 3rd album. Definately worth a listen.
Lyrics from learning.dada.at/res/pdf/A005A02.PDF
Interview with Goguel from Radio Goethe, translated by Radio Goethe. Unfortunately I could not get hold of the origional German text from the interview.