"Die Moorsoldaten" is one of the best known songs of the German political resistance movement against National Socialism. It was written in the Moor concentration camps, a chain of fifteen camps opened in Nazi Germany in 1933, and known collectively as the Emslandlager. The prisoners were not Jews, but communists, labor leaders, and left wing Christians sent to the camps early in the Nazi period because of their resistance or suspected resistance to the Nazi government. The song was composed in the summer of 1933 at the Börgermoor concentration camp, close to the town of Papenburg, in response to brutality by camp guards. The lyrics were written by Wolfgang Langhoff and Johann Esser, who were left-wing actors, and the music composed by Rudi Goguel, later adapted by Hanns Eisler and Ernst Busch, all of them active in the German Communist party. The camp commandant prohibited prisoners from singing it because of its last line. Nevertheless, the song spread rapidly through all the Emsland camps, where it continued to be sung until 1939. Hanns Einsler took the song with him when he went to the USA as a refugee, and it was recorded by various artists, mainly left-wing, such as Paul Robeson, who recorded it in January 30, 1942, on his album, "Songs of Free Men" (Columbia). It has also been recorded by Theodore Bikel, Pete Seeger, Ryan's Fancy and The Dubliners. And here is my friend, Dave Ellis, singing it. You can see a playlist of my European songs here: www.youtube.com For <b>...</b>

"Die Moorsoldaten" is one of the best known songs of the German political resistance movement against National Socialism. It was written in the Moor concentration camps, a chain of fifteen camps opened in Nazi Germany in 1933, and known collectively as the Emslandlager. The prisoners were not Jews, but communists, labor leaders, and left wing Christians sent to the camps early in the Nazi period because of their resistance or suspected resistance to the Nazi government. The song was composed in the summer of 1933 at the Börgermoor concentration camp, close to the town of Papenburg, in response to brutality by camp guards. The lyrics were written by Wolfgang Langhoff and Johann Esser, who were left-wing actors, and the music composed by Rudi Goguel, later adapted by Hanns Eisler and Ernst Busch, all of them active in the German Communist party. The camp commandant prohibited prisoners from singing it because of its last line. Nevertheless, the song spread rapidly through all the Emsland camps, where it continued to be sung until 1939. Hanns Einsler took the song with him when he went to the USA as a refugee, and it was recorded by various artists, mainly left-wing, such as Paul Robeson, who recorded it in January 30, 1942, on his album, "Songs of Free Men" (Columbia). It has also been recorded by Theodore Bikel, Pete Seeger, Ryan's Fancy and The Dubliners. And here is my friend, Dave Ellis, singing it. You can see a playlist of my European songs here: www.youtube.com For <b>...</b>