Generals

Field Marshal von Mackensen, the last great military leader from the previous war, turned 95 years old yesterday. – 12/6/44

If you became a general
Many magnifient medals were worn,
One had a chance to achieve
An unparalleled old age.

The ordinary soldiers
Often die in acts of heroism
Or other misfortunes,
Yes, they go before the generals

Always ahead in battle and death,
Less so in gaining glory.
Sending soldiers into the fire
And adorning oneself with laurels

Is the professional duty of the strategist
And the world has no objection,
It honors the aged warrior in him,
Whether defeated or victorious.

Mackensen is ninety-five
And is vigorous, yes, he seems to be
Still strong and powerful
No role seems to play

This high old age
And soon completing
Indeed, a full century,
One sees with astonishment and wonder
This almost magical
Blooming youthful freshness.

And I almost want to believe
And it almost seems to me,
That being a strategist in general
Would be a healthy thing,
When I see old military men

Robust and upright
Lively on parades
Adopting a disciplined posture
And in the gray everyday life

Everlasting, indestructible,
Almost showing themselves as war gods,
When I see them with full force
Devoting themselves to state affairs.

Old, eternally young warriors,
Like Paul Hindenburg-Benecken-
Dorf´[f], the great president,
I extend my compliments.

Also Pétain is indestructible,
Although he recently finally
Unwillingly relinquished his role
To Monsieur de Gaulle.

When the water is up to the throat,
If you call upon old generals,
Makes statesmen out of them,
And follow their crooked ways,
Through such Methuselahs
Mastering all time problems.

And yet it seems that generals
Today lack something,
Today they no longer find
The knack to grow so old.

Himmler merely lifts a finger
And the general dies younger,
They tried to fool you
That Fritsch fell somewhere in Poland

But they quickly decided
To murderously shoot him,
Witzleben was hanged
At Heinrich Himmler’s request.

Generals are seen in masses
Today sacrificing their lives,
Partly through Hitler, partly through bombs,
They fall in hecatombs.

Once they lived peacefully during the war,
Today it is different,
For today it is not comfortable
Even if one is not in the fire oneself,
One still doesn’t feel comfortable,

Yes, it seems to me that generals
Today are tormented by thoughts,
That thanks to Gestapo officials
They have no prospect of aging.