Peat Bog Soldiers

"Peat Bog Soldiers" (German: Die Moorsoldaten) 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.

[2] The Emslandlager[3] ("Emsland camps") – 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.

I led the march, in blue overalls, with the handle of a broken spade for a conductor's baton.

With each verse, the chorus became more powerful and, by the end, the SS – who had turned up with their officers – were also singing, apparently because they too thought themselves "peat bog soldiers".

", the sixteen singers rammed their spades into the ground and marched out of the arena; leaving behind their spades which now had, sticking out of the peat bog, become crosses.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.

Hier in dieser öden Heide ist das Lager aufgebaut, wo wir fern von jeder Freude hinter Stacheldraht verstaut.

Flucht wird nur das Leben kosten, vierfach ist umzäunt die Burg.

Doch für uns gibt es kein Klagen, ewig kann's nicht Winter sein, einmal werden froh wir sagen: Heimat du bist wieder mein.

—Final refrain: —𝄆 Dann zieh'n die Moorsoldaten —nicht mehr mit dem Spaten ins Moor.

In the morning, the columns march towards the moor to work, digging under the searing sun, but home is on their mind.