two
,
The people, though they still get fleeced
,
Think their suffering is eased
.
And the moral of the case
Remains the same in every place:
If it weren’t for the evil Jew
,
What would scapegoat-seekers do?
In Romania, Romania
(
Yes, why not in Romania?
)
Even the little children there
Have to have their evil Jew
.
How else could their rulers dare
To hoodwink them the way they do?
They had to do whatever they could
To pull the wool over their eyes
They’ll always need a good scapegoat
To smear with muddy lies.
German, Roman, and Japanese
,
Fresh and chaste, and Franco-Spanish
,
One can only destroy a people’s right
By giving them something to execute
,
Communist or evil Jew
,
But Bible scholar or Catholic, too
,
Any one of them will do
To keep us from hating the ones we should
.
But soon as all the scapegoats vanish
We’re the ones whose throats get slit
And the people are victims of the crime
,
And still they simply don’t get it
.
And the moral of the rhyme
Until the very end of time?
If there were no evil Jew
We would miss him, me and you
.
Another Zürich cabaret house, Pfeffermühle (“Pepper Mill”) was somewhat more discreet, packaging political criticism in allusion and metaphors. This troupe was formed in 1933 by Klaus and Erika Mann, the children of Thomas Mann. Klaus Mann later described the project as “a literary cabaret with a strong political focus and a playful but deeply serious and impassioned protest against the shame of fascism.” He added: “The texts for most of the numbers—chansons, recitations, sketches—were by Erika, although I wrote some. Erika was the emcee, director, and main organizer. She sang, whipped up enthusiasm, hired the employees, inspired the performers—andin short she was the heart and soul of the whole theater.”
The original Pfeffermühle had been in Munich, but the audience there was full of Nazi spies, and the fascist press waged a constant campaign to stir up public animosity against the small house. After the Reichstag fire, the political atmosphere became too dangerous for left-wing cabaret. But the troupe found that even inSwitzerland political humor was a risky enterprise, and most of the Swiss public were turned off by satire disguised as allegory.
A good example of the Pfeffermühle’s style is the following text by Erika Mann, which was transparently about Hitler:
I am the prince of the land of lies
I can lie to shake the trees
Good lord, am I a skillful liar!
No one lies so brilliantly
.
I lie so inventively
That the blue falls from the sky
See lies flying through the air
That lying gale’s source am I
.
Now summer is a-comin’ in
And the trees are all in bud
The field are full of violets
And war does not shed blood
.
Ha, ha. You fell for it
.
In your faces I can read it
.
Although it was completely false
,
Every one of you believed it
.
Lying is nice
Lying is fine
Lying brings luck
Lying bucks you up
.
Lying has lovely long legs
.
Lies make you rich
Lies are well-stitched
Seem like they’re true
Wash sin from you
And follow on a leash like dogs
.
Back in my home, the land of lies
,
The truth must remain unspoken
.
A colorful web of lying strands
Keeps our great Empire unbroken
.
We have it good, we have it nice
We kill all our enemies
And award ourselves the highest device
Of honor for our false glories
.
Once a liar, nevermore trusted;
Always a liar, always believed!
That he speaks anything but truth
Is an utterly intolerable idea
.
Lying is easy
Everything’s grand
If you can do it
,
False means to our end
.
To the land of lies
Lying brings fame
Lies are colorful and elegant
While gray truth looks always the same
.
In order to protect my land
I mix the poison and set the fires
If you doubt me, I’ll shut you up
,
I, the prince of the land of lies
.
By 1934 the fascist Swiss National Front was staging violent protests inside the theater. Glasses and chairs were
,
The people, though they still get fleeced
,
Think their suffering is eased
.
And the moral of the case
Remains the same in every place:
If it weren’t for the evil Jew
,
What would scapegoat-seekers do?
In Romania, Romania
(
Yes, why not in Romania?
)
Even the little children there
Have to have their evil Jew
.
How else could their rulers dare
To hoodwink them the way they do?
They had to do whatever they could
To pull the wool over their eyes
They’ll always need a good scapegoat
To smear with muddy lies.
German, Roman, and Japanese
,
Fresh and chaste, and Franco-Spanish
,
One can only destroy a people’s right
By giving them something to execute
,
Communist or evil Jew
,
But Bible scholar or Catholic, too
,
Any one of them will do
To keep us from hating the ones we should
.
But soon as all the scapegoats vanish
We’re the ones whose throats get slit
And the people are victims of the crime
,
And still they simply don’t get it
.
And the moral of the rhyme
Until the very end of time?
If there were no evil Jew
We would miss him, me and you
.
Another Zürich cabaret house, Pfeffermühle (“Pepper Mill”) was somewhat more discreet, packaging political criticism in allusion and metaphors. This troupe was formed in 1933 by Klaus and Erika Mann, the children of Thomas Mann. Klaus Mann later described the project as “a literary cabaret with a strong political focus and a playful but deeply serious and impassioned protest against the shame of fascism.” He added: “The texts for most of the numbers—chansons, recitations, sketches—were by Erika, although I wrote some. Erika was the emcee, director, and main organizer. She sang, whipped up enthusiasm, hired the employees, inspired the performers—andin short she was the heart and soul of the whole theater.”
The original Pfeffermühle had been in Munich, but the audience there was full of Nazi spies, and the fascist press waged a constant campaign to stir up public animosity against the small house. After the Reichstag fire, the political atmosphere became too dangerous for left-wing cabaret. But the troupe found that even inSwitzerland political humor was a risky enterprise, and most of the Swiss public were turned off by satire disguised as allegory.
A good example of the Pfeffermühle’s style is the following text by Erika Mann, which was transparently about Hitler:
I am the prince of the land of lies
I can lie to shake the trees
Good lord, am I a skillful liar!
No one lies so brilliantly
.
I lie so inventively
That the blue falls from the sky
See lies flying through the air
That lying gale’s source am I
.
Now summer is a-comin’ in
And the trees are all in bud
The field are full of violets
And war does not shed blood
.
Ha, ha. You fell for it
.
In your faces I can read it
.
Although it was completely false
,
Every one of you believed it
.
Lying is nice
Lying is fine
Lying brings luck
Lying bucks you up
.
Lying has lovely long legs
.
Lies make you rich
Lies are well-stitched
Seem like they’re true
Wash sin from you
And follow on a leash like dogs
.
Back in my home, the land of lies
,
The truth must remain unspoken
.
A colorful web of lying strands
Keeps our great Empire unbroken
.
We have it good, we have it nice
We kill all our enemies
And award ourselves the highest device
Of honor for our false glories
.
Once a liar, nevermore trusted;
Always a liar, always believed!
That he speaks anything but truth
Is an utterly intolerable idea
.
Lying is easy
Everything’s grand
If you can do it
,
False means to our end
.
To the land of lies
Lying brings fame
Lies are colorful and elegant
While gray truth looks always the same
.
In order to protect my land
I mix the poison and set the fires
If you doubt me, I’ll shut you up
,
I, the prince of the land of lies
.
By 1934 the fascist Swiss National Front was staging violent protests inside the theater. Glasses and chairs were
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