The “Song of the Moor Soldiers” in the past and present

It is not a new, but always irritating observation that German fascism promoted the emergence of an impressive song culture directed against it. Or to put it another way: If the persecutions, the terror, the crimes of the Nazis had not existed, this part of 20th century music history would not exist either. Without the Jewish ghetto uprising in Warsaw there would be no “Sog nit keynmol” by Hirsh Glik, without the Dachau concentration camp no “Dachaulied” by Jura Soyfer and Herbert Zipper. The list could go on almost endlessly. However, none of the many songs that were written in the concentration and extermination camps, in the ghettos and prisons of the Nazi regime were as popular as the “Song of the Moor Soldiers”. More than 91 years ago, in August 1933, it was premiered in the Börgermoor concentration camp in Emsland. How did the song, which is well-known in many parts of the world, come about? How was it able to spread internationally between 1933 and 1945? What happened to the song after the end of the war and fascism and how is it received today? With many audio and video documents, photos, illustrations and texts, the fascinating history of the camp hymn from Börgermoor will be recalled on this evening. The speaker will draw on the large collection of songs kept at the Emsland Camp Documentation and Information Center in Papenburg.

Lecture: Fietje Ausländer
Location: Stadtmuseum Meppen
Time: 7 p.m.
Admission: €6 (box office)
Registration: phone 05931 153 278, e-mail: s.lorenz@meppen.de