Ein bisschen Frieden

July 19, 2006 7:39 AM

Looking for examples of German anti-war, anti-nazi poetry.

Most of you probably know the poem 'First they came' by Pastor Martin Niemöller. I am looking for similar, preferably German, anti-nazi poetry (or song lyrics) with English translations if available. The more blatant and in your face the better.

posted by prolific to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

I don't have my copy handy, so I can't give you detailed recommendations, but Carolyn Forche's anthology, Against Forgetting, should be really useful for this sort of thing. I remember it having over 200 pages of poetry addressing WWII and the Holocaust.
posted by .kobayashi. at 7:56 AM on July 19, 2006

Although not specifically anti-nazi, Stefan George's poem "The Antichrist" gained fame when the leader of a plot to kill Hitler in 1944 recited to friends the night before the failed attempt.

Bertolt Brecht wrote several anti-Nazi plays and poems
posted by mattbucher at 8:02 AM on July 19, 2006

There are several books of poetry and song from concentration camp prisoners:

•  An den Wind geschrieben; Lyrik der Freiheit, 1933-1945

•  De profundis, deutsche Lyrik in dieser Zeit, eine Anthologie aus zwölf Jahren

• Welch Wort in die Kälte gerufen: Die Judenverfolgung des Dritten Reiches im deutschen Gedicht

•  Gesange aus der Stadt des Todes: Todeslagergedichte aus dem Wilnaer Ghetto, 1941/1942

•  Kazett-Lyrik: Untersuchungen zu Gedichten und Liedern aus dem Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:17 AM on July 19, 2006

Paul Celan, Death Fugue.
posted by Uccellina at 11:06 AM on July 19, 2006