Piesn Obozowa "Camp Song"

This song, by Zbigniew Koczanowicz, is part of the Aleksander Kulisiewicz music collection at the U.S. Holocaust Research Institute Archives.

It was written in April of 1945 at Falkensee, a sub-camp of Sachsenhausen where Koczanowicz was interned. It was also known as "Marsz Zbyszka Koczanowicza" (after the lyricist). The song apparently had some association with the clandestine "camp patrol" that was formed by the remaining prisoners of Falkensee in 1945, among whom was Koczanowicz. This "patrol" supposedly knew of the German arsenal of secret weapons and took arms from it to defend themselves against the prison guards.

According to Aleksander Kulisiewicz, the melody to "Piesn Obozowa" was adapted by Koczanowicz from a nineteenth century Russian folksong. Koczanowicz's poem was later set to an original melody by his fellow prisoner, Ludwik Zuk-Skarszewski.

The collection includes a recording of the song performed by the author (circa 1960). You can hear this Polish language recording by clicking below:

Verse #1 (523Kb, au format)

Separated from the world by barbed wire,
We're rounded up from everywhere,
The longing woven into our hearts,
Throbs like the ringing of a bell.

The longing woven into our hearts,
Throbs like the ringing of a bell.

Verse #2 (426Kb, au format)

You with the striped rag on your back,
Could you forget who you are - and where?
They stitched a number to your breast,
A red triangle and the letter "P",

They stitched a number to your breast,
A red triangle and the letter "P"

Verse #3 (425Kb, au format)

And your shaved head serves to remind you,
Of the burden of your unknown sins.
And you yearn for the day
When your will and your purpose return.

And you yearn for the day
When your will and your purpose return.

Verse #4 (408 Kb, au format)

Neither stars nor sun bring you happiness,
Neither day nor night yield pleasure.
You stand and you wait, dressed in stripes and shaved bare,
With thousands of men like yourself.

You stand and you wait, dressed in stripes and shaved bare,
With thousands of men like yourself.

Verse #5 (463 Kb, au format)

The words of this song are stained with out blood,
Within them are sorrow and grief,
Yet your camp song will carry beyond these barbed wires,
To a distant place unknown to you.

Yet your camp song will carry beyond these barbed wires,
To a distant place unknown to you.

Audio file with all verses (2.25MB, au format).