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The Secret Deployment
Text by Erich Weinert. Sung by Ernst Busch.

The Secret Deployment (1931) was written at a time when German Communists believed an attack by capitalist powers on the Soviet Union was imminent. The music was originally composed by Eisler for the anti-war movie No Man's Land to accompany a scene in which soldiers throw down their rifles and leave their trenches. Here, the text reverses the action of the movie: workers and farmers are urged to pick up their rifles and rush towards an apocalyptic battle against fascism. Here is the text of the refrain:

Workers, farmers, take your rifles,
take your rifles in your hands!
Smash the fascist army of robbers,
set every heart on fire!
Plant your red banners of labor
in every field, in every factory.
Then will rise from the ruins of the old society
a socialist world republic.

Music sample © pläne. Translation by Andy Lang.