The song contains a speech at the first chorus, but nowhere else. (and for some reason only in the right ear?)
The video's intro utilizes the Three Arrows to cross out the Nazi flag, which was common in anti-fascist circles in Germany. This should not be mistaken for use of the Nazi flag for purposes of endorsement of the Nazis.
"Die Moorsoldaten," known in English as "the Peat Bog Soldiers," is a popular anti-fascist protest song, originating from Germany just after the rise of the Nazi regime. The song was written by socialist political prisoners in the Emsland camps in 1933, of which the camps held roughly 1000. Because they would be cracked down on if they sung existing protest or political songs, they created their own. It was written by Johann Esser and Wolfgang Langhoff and composed by Rudi Goguel. It was first performed in August 1933 at a "concentration camp circus" at Börgermoor camp, one of the Emsland camps. The concentration camp circus (German: Zircus Konzentrani) was an event in the camp just after the Night of the Long Knives. It saw the prisoners rally together and put on a show to demonstrate their strengthening resistance and solidarity. After its performance, the song became a hit. German anti-fascist musicians Hanns Eisler and Ernst Busch adapted the song, and it quickly became recognizable internationally, being used in protests around the world, especially in Spain and Ireland.
Performed by the American music group the Mitchell Trio in 1965.
Wohin auch das Auge blicket,
Moor und Heide ringsherum.
Vogelsang uns nicht erquicket,
Eichen stehen kahl und krumm.
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten
Und ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.
[In the early 1930s, the concentration camps of Germany began filling up with hundreds, then thousands, then hundreds of thousands of Hitler's political enemies. These were the men who resisted the Nazi tyrrany, until they had to be destroyed. But they always dreamed of freedom, if not for themselves, but then for their children.]
Wir sind die Moorsoldaten
Und ziehen mit dem Spaten ins Moor.
Far and wide as the eye can wander,
Heath and bog are everywhere.
Not a bird sings out to cheer us,
Trees 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 go 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 for us there is no complaining,
Winter will in time be past.
One day we shall rise rejoicing:
"Homeland, dear, you're mine at last."
Then will the peat bog soldiers
March no more with their spades to the bog.
Dann zieh'n die Moorsoldaten
Nicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor.
30 июн 2023
