These are the English translation of a German language protest song dating from the yearly years of Nazi rule in Germany. This is song was written and performed in 1933 by political prisoners (Socialist and Communist) in Emslandlager, a concentration camp for political opponents of the Nazis, who were not allowed to sing songs associated with their political beliefs. This song became their anthem in a way and was used by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. It is considered to be one of the best known protest songs from Europe. It is a very powerful song. Enjoy.
Lyrics to Die Moorsoldaten (English):
Any directions you might see,
Bog and heath is everywhere.
The oaks, they stand twisted and bare.
Refrain:
We are the bog battalion,
On spade instead of stallion,
In bog.
In such a deserted landscape
Just for us, this compound dire.
Far from friends and with no escape
We are cached behind barb-ed wire.
Refrain:
Columns long, we head for the bog
To dig the early morning.
We sweat in sun, work like a dog,
And think of loved ones mourning.
Refrain:
Thought to home and hearth do return,
To parents, wife and children.
Many a breast may sigh and yearn
To leave this prison, when, oh when?
Refrain:
The patrols guard us day and night,
Escape is a losing sport.
Your life’s not worth attempted flight,
Four rings of wire fence the fort.
Refrain:
Complaining will not set us free;
Winter can’t last forever.
The time will come when we will see,
Our homeland ours, together.
Then no more bog battalion
No spade instead of stallion
In Bog.
The Nerdstorian 