Twelve years have passed,
Since he seized power,
And Germany is shot,
Despite propaganda tricks
And even if they insist
That the Reich is still intact,
It cannot be concealed,
This is the final act.
The great German drama
Is rapidly approaching its end,
And Germany’s Dalai Lama,
The noble Adolf, must
Soon disappear,
By suicide? By trial?
He will meet his end,
But how, I do not know.
In the year thirty-three
Everything was still so new,
Goebbels spoke very diligently,
And also Doctor Ley,
That everything would become better now,
And run like clockwork,
You German giant steeds,
You have now seen it
Twelve years of Hitler’s leadership,
Twelve years of tyranny,
Twelve years of government by force,
Twelve years of barbarism.
Twelve years of robbery and murder,
Time took its course,
And Germany has become
A heap of rubble.
At first, it was inflated,
Like a hot air balloon,
But you bumped your noses,
And have had enough of it,
After glorious triumphs
And dreams of world domination,
You see the German “Lebensraum”
Shrinking together.
Twelve years of violent methods
Consumed your strength,
The enemy on German soil
Now demands accountability.
But your true enemies
Are – today you understand it –
The swastika community,
The Nazis alone.
They have brought these times
And this distress,
The bankruptcy of all bankruptcies,
Twelve years of Hitler’s power
And Germany became hell
And a curse upon the world,
The Reich is a prison cell,
Where they hold captive
Freedom, human decency,
Truth and justice,
A gang of bandits rules,
And that is why you were doing badly.
It lasted twelve years,
A horrifying time,
People suffer and mourn,
But sometime it’s over.
A blind person feels it today
With his walking stick,
That it won’t be long anymore
For Hitler‘s pack.
Post-Editing: Sylvia Stawski, Ernst Sittig
Did you notice an error in this transcription or translation, and would you like to send us a corrected version? Or have you created a lyrical translation that captures rhyme and rhythm of the original? Please feel free to send us your version. We appreciate voluntary support for this memorial project, and we regularly review the messages we receive.