The Ballad of the Alarm Clock

120,000 German watches were repaired in France
Two years ago, our watchmakers took a new path: the relocation of repairs to France. The watches are sent to Paris in special cases and repaired by French watchmakers working under German guidance. – Köln. Ill., June 22, 1944

There was a German girl,
Who had an alarm clock,
But the clock’s gears
Ran irregularly.

Because this alarm clock
Always went off at the wrong time,
The poor child was often startled
At night by the clock ringing

When it should have been sleeping,
On the other hand, it remained silent
Whenever it should have been going off,
She took it very badly.

Nowadays, the watchmakers
Stand loyally by the Führer’s side
Just as it should be,
On foot, in tanks, and on horseback.

Today they are soldiers,
Fighting for the Empire,
And perform heroic deeds
Like all the others too.

Finally, the girl, Miss Becker,
Did this:
She sent her alarm clock
To Paris for improvement.

With many German watches,
It came to the city on the Seine,
The watch repairs
On springs, hands, gears

Should now be done by the French
For the Germans,
There are now not
Enough people in Germany

And not the materials
For such watchworks.
They are sent far away,
Especially to France.

The alarm clock was probably
Repaired in France,
But it is terribly embarrassing
What happened back then.

Paris is happy again today,
To be rid of the Germans,
Happy songs are sung,
By Frenchwomen and Frenchmen.

But our Miss Becker
Finds it very upsetting,
She mourns for the alarm clock
Because it stayed in Paris.