[Leica] Song of the War Correspondents

[Howard L Ritter Jr]

Wonderful bit of odd and interesting history, Peter. Thanks! Catchy tune, too. Made me think of the bar scene at Mos Eisley!

—howard


> On May 30, 2016, at 6:02 PM, Peter Klein <pklein at threshinc.com> wrote:
> 
> As I've posted, we visited Ted Grant recently.  Ted's stories reminded Katya of something from her younger days in the USSR--a popular Russian song about photojournalists?  And, it actually mentions Leicas!  It was written during World War II, and was often played on Russian media when the "Great Patriotic War" was celebrated or memorialized.  So Katya found the song on YouTube, and wrote up a literal translation of the words.
> 
> Here is a video of the song as sung in a 1944 Russian movie "short."  It shows scenes photographers and cinematographers during the war, plus some general war footage, The final onscreen title says "Glory to heroes."  It is, of course, a propaganda piece designed to build morale, but still very interesting.
> 
> You might notice that the arrangement mixes 1920s-30s "hot jazz" with a Glenn Miller-style Big Band sound.  Jazz was normally disapproved of as an example of "decadent Western culture." During the war, there was a thaw in the official disapproval. Then after the war, many jazz musicians were sent to labor camps as part of the "Campaign Against Cosmopolitans."
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4V7tgp9qFo>
> The video might show a 30 second commercial first.
> 
> Here is Katya's translation of the song lyrics. They are taken from a longer poem by Konstantin Simonov, who actually was a war correspondent as well as a poet, novelist and playwright.
> 
> --------
> *Song of war correspondents*
> 
> From Moscow to Brest
> There is not a place,
> Where we did not wander in the dust.
> With a Leica and a notebook,
> And sometimes with a machine gun
> We went through the fire and the frost.
> Without a sip, comrade,
> The song can’t be started,
> So let’s pour ourselves a shot.
> Here's to writers,
> Here's to photographers,
> Here's to those marching under fire!
> 
> We have a reason to drink -
> For military communications,
> For U-2, for “Emka”, for success;
> For how we marched on foot,
> How pushed with our shoulders,
> How we got there ahead of everyone.
> From the winds and vodka
> Our throats were hoarse,
> But we say to those who reproach:
> "Try, like us, to roam,
> Sleeping in the field,
> Try fighting for at least a year!"
> 
> Where we have been,
> They did not give us tanks -
> But it never discouraged us.
> In the ragged pickup
> With only a revolver
> We were the first to enter cities.
> So let's drink to victory,
> To our newspaper,
> And if we will not live to see it, my dear,
> Someone will find out,
> Will photograph and write,
> Someone will remember you and me!
> ------
> 
> Pretty amazing, eh?
> --Peter
> 
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