A ‘Grimm’ Fairy Tale

(at the cover photo)

Once there was a Leipziger Straße,
It‘s been a long time,
Now there‘s only a heap of rubble,
Everything is desolate and empty.

There were no famines yet,
No, there was an abundance of sausages,
And the salami‘s light red color
Was a delight to the eye.

The goose breasts and the hams,
They were beautifully marbled,
And seemed to wave at passersby:
Blessed is he who treats himself to us.

It was a time full of happiness and — sausages,
You lived there like in a poem,
You lived truly like princes,
But alas, you didn‘t know it yourselves.

In those times, a girl could still
Go for a walk with her boyfriend,
They bought sausages and bought rolls
For a picnic, that will be understood.

You bought on Leipzigerstraße
What you needed,
Even if you were a bit short on cash,
That doesn‘t hinder happiness.

And after shopping, the couple
Took the tram to the Grunewald,
They loved each other there like in a fairy tale,
But unfortunately, it soon turned out differently.

Then Adolf came to power,
He took matters into his own hands,
And thanks to the wise Hitler leadership,
It happened that sausages disappeared first.

And butter, bacon, and fatty foods,
Coffee and tea also disappeared,
But despite the lean times,
Herr Göring kept his belly.

You no longer saw the ham curls,
Once so delicately flirtatious,
You ate dry buttered bread
Without sausage and without fat.

The beautiful sausage decorations
Of the old days, they were no more,
Bombs and cannons were needed,
Thus the shop window became empty.

But it didn‘t end there,
The young man soon became a soldier,
His girl first wrung her hands,
But then followed the Führer‘s advice.

He then went to Russia,
And died a German hero‘s death,
His girl had haggard cheeks,
And cried her little eyes red.

But she didn‘t endure for very long,
The heavy sorrow and grief,
Because recently she was killed,
When a bomber plane came.

The young man and the girl died,
The beautiful street lies in ruins,
Millions still live and suffer,
And think: We‘ll soon perish.

No hair is yet harmed on the Führer,
Millions bear their suffering in silence,
It‘s a bitter, cruel fairy tale,
This ‚Grimm‘ fairy tale of this time.