[Leica] Song of the War Correspondents

[Gerry Walden]

That makes sense Peter. Thanks!

Gerry

> On 1 Jun 2016, at 06:18, Peter Klein <boulanger.croissant at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I'm told that most professionals who used miniature cameras had Leicas. It
> was that way in the U.S. as well. I guess if you got them before the
> fighting started, it was OK. The Soviet pros would have to have some
> connections to get them, but they were around, even in the 30s. And the
> early Fed cameras were Leica copies. Leica was the standard.
> 
> --Peter
> 
> On Tue, May 31, 2016 at 12:54 AM, Gerry Walden <gerry.walden at icloud.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Fascinating Peter. I am amazed they mentioned Leica which was, after all,
>> a camera made by the enemy.
>> 
>> Gerry
>> 
>> 
>>> On 30 May 2016, at 23:02, 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
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Leica Users Group.
>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>> 
>> 
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>> 
> 
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