Let's fight
On, on to the fight was originally a soldier's song from the First World War . The text in its current form was probably rewritten in 1919 as the battle song of the labor movement . Around 1930 it was repackaged for the SA by NSDAP member Adolf Wagner .
In the best-known version of the text today, the song was probably written as an expression of outrage over the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht , important representatives of the European labor movement , who were murdered by nationalist Freikorps soldiers in Berlin on January 15, 1919. As early as 1907 there was a version that was backed by verses for August Bebel on the occasion of the Reichstag election . The paramilitary “ green police ” mentioned in the second stanza was created in mid-1919 and supplemented the blue-uniformed police of the emperor who fled to Holland. It was subordinate to the Social Democrat Gustav Noske , which is why the word Noske Police is used in some versions.
Version from the First World War
1. On, on to the fight, to the fight!
We are born to fight!
On, on to the fight, to the fight!
to fight for the fatherland.!
|: We swore it to Kaiser Wilhelm!
We shake hands with Kaiser Wilhelm. : |!
2. What is the son, the son doing!
the mother so much pain!
until they see him, yes him!
raised to fight.!
|: She always carries love in her heart!
so, son, never forget your mother! : |!
3. The father is crying, yes, crying!
for his son's life!
because he him, yes him!
last seen!
|: extends his hand, gives him the farewell blessing :!
Who knows, my son, if we'll see each other again. : |!
4. A girl is crying, yes crying!
for many long years!
for the beloved!
some bitter hour.!
|: The one she loved, he's slumbering in the grave for a long time!
while he was badly wounded by the enemy. : |!
5. There is a man, a man!
as solid as an oak !!
He certainly has!
already experienced some storms !!
|: Maybe he'll be a corpse tomorrow!
As happened to some of his brothers. : |!
6. We are not afraid, yes not!
the thunder of the cannons!
whether he is the same, yes the same
calls to destruction.!
|: So we want to repeat it again :!
Death in the field is the most beautiful death. : | !
Version from 1919
On, on to the fight, to the fight !!
We are born to fight !!
On, on to the fight, to the fight !!
We are ready to fight !!
|: We swore it to Karl Liebknecht!
We shake hands with Rosa Luxemburg. : |. !
2. We are not afraid, yes not!
The thunder of the cannons !!
We are not afraid, yes not!
The green police !!
|: We lost Karl Liebknecht!
The Rosa Luxemburg fell at the hands of a murderer. : | !
3. There is a man, a man!
As solid as an oak !!
He certainly has!
Already experienced some storms !!
|: Maybe he'll be a corpse tomorrow!
As are so many freedom fighters. : | !
4. On, on to the fight, to the fight !!
We are born to fight !!
On, on to the fight, to the fight !!
We are ready to fight !!
|: We swore it to Karl Liebknecht!
We shake hands with Rosa Luxemburg. : | !
Version by Adolf Wagner around 1930 for the SA
1. On, on to the fight, to the fight !!
We are born to fight !!
On, on to the fight, to the fight!
to fight for the fatherland.!
|: We swore it to Adolf Hitler!
We shake hands with Adolf Hitler. : |!
2. There is a man, a man!
as solid as an oak !!
He certainly has!
already experienced some storms !!
|: Maybe he'll be a corpse tomorrow!
As is the case with so many Hitlerites. : |!
3. Drum on to the fight, to the fight!
with brown battalions !!
The Third Reich, yes Reich!
is our high goal.!
|: The dead of the world war, these two million!
commit us, yes, to fight and victory! : |!