The Small Difference

Gradually, a situation is emerging that begins to resemble that of 1939 or early 1940. Even then, opponents were at the borders in the East and West, and no one thought of considering the German war position as hopeless. People knew that there were strong defensive lines along all borders; they knew that attacks on the German Empire itself would meet with fierce resistance. These lines still exist, and this resistance is now being organized down to the smallest detail. The indeed total mobilization can have no other meaning than that Germany is being built into a fortress where every man, every woman, every boy, everything that can defend, will have its role to fulfill and will be prepared for that role. – 26-8-44

Göbbels writes, the German situation
Resembles that of the year ‘40.
I dispute that and I say:
Your doctor Göbbels is mistaken.

Or Göbbels knows better
And tells you lies again,
Builds castles in the air for you
About the future German victories.

Yes, very soon, just like in ‘40,
Your enemies stand at the border.
Your troops are distancing themselves,
And only a small gap separates them

Now from the German regions,
Which they left in ‘40,
To build a giant empire
That was to encompass all of Europe.

And you subjected the countries
One by one to Germany’s yoke,
That was for the Hitler gang
Surely the golden epoch.

Man and woman in the vinegar jar
Were always supposed to fare better.
Thus, you hurriedly flew
To ever-new victories.

But the Lord doesn’t let trees
Grow into the sky forever.
Your delusional dreams
Led you to great cracks.

And now today you are back
At the starting point,
From the German eagle’s feathering
Many a little feather has been taken.

It is now much less strong
Than in the year ‘39,
But the enemies are fierce today,
And the enemies are diligent today,

Stronger than they ever were
They come from all sides.
And after five years,
They will now put a final end to you.