Peat Bog Soldiers
"Peat Bog Soldiers" is one of Europe's best-known protest songs. It exists in countless European languages and became a Republican anthem during the Spanish Civil War. It was a symbol of resistance during the Second World War and is popular with the Peace movement today. It was written, composed and first performed in a Nazi concentration camp by prisoners.
Background
This song was written by prisoners in Nazi moorland labour camps in Lower Saxony, Germany. The Emslandlager – as they were known – were for political opponents of the Third Reich, located outside of Börgermoor, now part of the commune Surwold, not far from Papenburg. A memorial of these camps, the Dokumentations- und Informationszentrum Emslandlager, is located at Papenburg.In 1933, one camp, Börgermoor, held about 1,000 Socialist and Communist internees. They were banned from singing existing political songs so they wrote and composed their own. The words were written by Johann Esser and Wolfgang Langhoff ; the music was composed by Rudi Goguel and was later adapted by Hanns Eisler and Ernst Busch.
It was first performed at a Zircus Konzentrani on 28 August 1933 at Börgermoor camp. Here is Rudi Goguel's description of it:
The song has a slow simple melody, reflecting a soldier's march, and is deliberately repetitive, echoing and telling of the daily grind of hard labour in harsh conditions. It was popular with German refugees in London in the Thirties and was used as a marching song by the German volunteers of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. It was soon picked up by other nationalities and it appears in almost all the collected anthologies of Spanish Civil War songs.
The French Foreign Legion use the French version of the song, "Le Chant Des Marais", as one of its marching songs, the sombre tone and timing matching the 88 paces per minute distinctive of the Legion.
The "short" (three-verse) lyrics
Langhoff and Esser's original song runs to six verses, plus refrains. For performance – and, therefore, for most translation – shorter lyrics are used. These omit verses two, three and four of the original.The full version
This is the full six-verse German version, together with a literal English translation.| Die Moorsoldaten | Literal translation |
Wohin auch das Auge blicket. Moor und Heide nur ringsum. Vogelsang uns nicht erquicket. Eichen stehen kahl und krumm. Wherever the eye gazes Bog and heath all around No chirping of birds entertains us Oaks are standing bare and crooked Hier in dieser öden Heide ist das Lager aufgebaut, wo wir fern von jeder Freude hinter Stacheldraht verstaut. Here inside this barren marshland the camp is built up, Where we are, far from any joy, stowed away behind barbed wire. Morgens ziehen die Kolonnen in das Moor zur Arbeit hin. Graben bei dem Brand der Sonne, doch zur Heimat steht der Sinn. In the morning, the columns march towards the moor to work. digging under the searing sun, But our mind yearns toward our homeland. Heimwärts, heimwärts jeder sehnet, zu den Eltern, Weib und Kind. Manche Brust ein Seufzer dehnet, weil wir hier gefangen sind. Homeward, homeward everyone yearns to the parents, wife and child, some chests are widened by a sigh, because we are caught in here. Auf und nieder geh'n die Posten, keiner, keiner kann hindurch. Flucht wird nur das Leben kosten, vierfach ist umzäunt die Burg. Up and down the guards are walking Nobody, nobody can get through. Escape would only cost the life Four fences secure the castle. Doch für uns gibt es kein Klagen, ewig kann nicht Winter sein, einmal werden froh wir sagen: Heimat du bist wieder mein.'' But for us there is no clamoring, It can't be an endless winter. One day we'll say happily: "Homeland you are mine again!". |