They All Sang the Internationale

Katharina Jacob, long before she took that name

Was organizing workers in Hamburg just the same

Organizing beneath the flag of deepest red

A new dawn of peace and freedom clearly shining in her head

Katharina Jacob first was sent to jail

When the trappings of democracy all began to fail

She was frequently arrested, in and out of custody

While her first husband was in hiding from the Nazis

Katharina Jacob was acquitted of a crime

But the gestapo had the last word and they weren't finished with her this time

She was sent to Ravensbrück, a killing hunger at her side

She heard of the execution, how her second husband died

For Katharina Jacob the end was close at hand

She was on a death march with a ragged, starving band

Marching through a forest, being led by the SS

What would happen hours later seemed impossible to guess

When the sun rose the next morning, it was the first of May

And they all sang the Internationale

they all sang the Internationale

Katharina Jacob thought about her children

And the friends and comrades taking care of them

Not knowing yet if any of them survived

Not knowing that soon she'd see her daughters both alive

Katharina Jacob watched the German soldiers fleeing

Streaming from the east, that's what she was seeing

Allied bombers flew above them, she thought they all might die and then

Soon there was the silence of all the SS men

When the sun rose the next morning, it was the first of May

And they all sang the Internationale

they all sang the Internationale

Katharina Jacob saw red flags flapping in the breeze

Above the Russian tanks and she fell upon her knees

And so many different voices in so many different tongues

Sang the most beautiful song that could ever have been sung

In German, Lithuanian, in Polish and in Dutch

A myriad of melodies as never had been such

In Russian and in Yiddish, Italian and French

Emerging from the forests beneath a trench

When the sun rose the next morning, it was the first of May

And they all sang the Internationale

When the sun rose the next morning, it was the first of May

And they all sang the Internationale

they all sang the Internationale

Völker, hört die Signale!

Auf zum letzten Gefecht!

Die Internationale

erkämpft das Menschenrecht

Völker, hört die Signale!

Auf zum letzten Gefecht!

Die Internationale

erkämpft das Menschenrecht