On the birth centenary of Louis Fürnberg
The Song of the Party
Louis Fürnberg
Louis Fürnberg (1909-1957) belonged to a German-Czech family of
Moravia. He joined the German section of the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia in 1928 and worked in the party press in Prague until
the Nazi invasion whereupon he fled to Palestine. He returned to Prague
in 1946 and later in 1954 shifted to the city of Weimar in the German
Democratic Republic where he was drawn because of his love of Goethe
and classical German literature. He was the author of a number of short
stories, novels and poems imbued with the spirit of communism. He
achieved widespread popularity in the GDR with the Song of the Party
which was composed in July 1950.
Everything it has given us, all that we have here
The sun and the wind, and never was it miserly,
Where it was, there was life
What we are, through it are we.
Never has it left us.
Even as the world froze, we were kept warm.
The mother of the masses protects us
We are carried by its righteous arm.
The party, the party is always right
And, comrades, so should it remain hereby;
For he who fights for what is right,
Is always in the right.
Against exploitation and the resounding lie.
He who the life offends,
Is stupid, bad or not so bright.
He, who the humanity defends,
Is always in the right.
Thus from the spirit of Lenin,
It grows, welded by Stalin
The party – the party – the party.
Never has it flattered us.
Even at times when we lost courage in the fight,
Softly did it caress us,
‘Don’t despair’ and we felt just right.
Let us the pain and hardships enumerate,
When in the Good we succeed.
When, it the poorest in this earthly estate
To peace and freedom compellingly lead.
It has given us everything in this our strife
Bricks for building and courage for the great plan.
It said: Be masters of life
Forward, comrades, woman and man,
If to the war the hyenas hound,
Break their power, break their might.
Build the houses and let the cradles abound.
Constructors, keep a watchful sight.
The party, the party, it is always right.
And, comrades, so should remain hereby.
For he who fights for what is right,
Is always in the right
Against exploitation and the resounding lie.
He, who the life offends,
Is stupid, bad, or not so bright
He, who the humanity defends
Is always in the right.
Thus, from the spirit of Lenin,
It grows, welded by Stalin
The party – the party – the party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPNin0-dLVE&feature=related
Translated from the German by fowpe sharma.
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