"Buchenwald alarm": an eternal call and reminder

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Have you ever heard "Buchenwald alarm"? The lyrics of the song and its music are so poignant that they cannot leave any thinking and feeling person indifferent. Even the most callous people cry when listening to a work written on the day of the opening of the memorial to the victims of the war in Buchenwald. The music and the words of the song accurately convey the rumble of the memorial bell, paint terrible pictures of fascist atrocities and images of tortured or burned alive people. Few people know that the song, which has become a cultural monument to the victims of fascism, is in fact also a monument to party obscurantism. The lyrics to the song "Buchenwald Alarm" were written by front-line soldier Alexander Sobolev, but even many people of art still do not know this.

"Buchenwald alarm". History

In the summer of 1958, a tower was opened in Buchenwald. The bell, installed on its top, with its rumble was supposed to constantly remind of the innocently dead prisoners of Buchenwald. Hearing this news, Sobolev, who once worked insmall-circulation newspaper, wrote a poem that began with the line: "People of the world, stand up for a minute!" Chopped lines, vivid images touched the soul of everyone who heard this poem. After some time, the simple-minded poet took his work to the Pravda newspaper. But… they didn't even read it. There were two reasons for this. The first is Sobolev's non-partisanship. The second is his nationality. Alexander was Jewish. Without reading, the editor-in-chief crossed out the verses and tossed them to the author. But the former front-line soldier was distinguished by amazing perseverance. He went through the whole war, so the indignation of the party bureaucrat did not frighten him. A few days later, Sobolev took the "Buchenwald alarm" to the newspaper "Trud". This publication also published the work of non-members of the party, so new poems were accepted.

And the restless Sobolev went even further: he sent the text to the famous composer Vano Muradeli. Shocked by simple but emotional lines, the poet quickly set the verses to music. While working on the piece, the musician wept. Thus the song "Buchenwald alarm" was born. But birth does not mean life. All the same bureaucrats from the CPSU, who head the All-Union Radio, considered that poetry is not poetry at all, but sheer obscurantism. "Buchenwald alarm" was rejected. However, the author of the words went with a new song to the Central Committee of the Komsomol. They just needed a repertoire for a student choir going to the World Youth Festival. It was in Vienna that the "Buchenwald alarm", performed for the first time, made thousands of people cry. A few days later a songtranslated into many languages, the whole world sang. But the song did not reach Russia. For a long time, its execution was considered inexpedient for the same reasons: non-partisanship and nationality of the author. Only after the documentary "Spring Wind over Vienna" did the song begin its triumphal march across Russia. But … not once during its performance was the author of the verses mentioned. To this day, many are sure that the work belongs entirely to Vano Muradeli. Naturally, Alexander Sobolev received neither a fee, which amounted to hundreds of thousands, nor a copyright certificate. He lived in a barracks, worked at a factory. The public became aware of his role in the creation of the song "Buchenwald Alarm" only a few years ago.

But neither in encyclopedias, nor in Wikipedia, nor in other reference books is Sobolev's name so far.