The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino
Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino (The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino) is one of the best-known
History
In early 1944 a German stronghold, dug in at the ancient
The song's melody was composed during the night of 17–18 May 1944 by
The third verse, Konarski wrote several hours later. In his memoirs, he wrote:
"For the first time singing Red poppies on Monte Cassino, we all cried. Soldiers cried with us. Red poppies, which bloomed over night, became one more symbol of bravery and sacrifice - a tribute of alive ones, whom for love of freedom died for freedom of people."
The fourth and final stanza was written a quarter-century later, in 1969, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the battle.[4] That final stanza is the least known and is sometimes omitted.[4]
On 18 May 1944, the day following the song's composition, the Poles stormed and captured the precincts of the Monte Cassino
Copyright
Schütz moved to Munich in 1961 and died there in 1999. After the death of his wife, as they had no heir, under German law the state of Bavaria acquired copyright, and royalties for commercial use of the "Red Poppies" melody were paid to it through GEMA, the German organization of collective management of copyright.[8] In 2014 the Polish Song Library together with Polish lawyer Bogusław Wieczorek took action to retrieve the copyright and received a formal reply from Bavarian authorities of willingness to pass the copyright to the Polish state. In 2015 a further attempt was made by the Polish Consulate General in Munich and on 15 September 2015 Bavaria renounced all rights to the song and melody, which were transferred to Poland.[9]
See also
- Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross
- Polish Military Cemetery at Monte Cassino
- Polish Military Cemetery at Casamassima
- "In Flanders Fields"
- Papaver rhoeas
- Remembrance poppy
References
- ISBN 978-0-415-03184-4. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-84176-623-2. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ^ a b c (in Polish) Bogdan Okulski, description of the song in the Wojenko, wojenko album, 1995.
- ^ a b (in Polish) Jerzy Trzesicki, Cassino-tekst
- ^ (in Polish) Bogdan Żurek, Czerwone maki, Radio Wolna Europa.
- ^ (in Polish) Monografia "Czerwonych maków" - hymnu IX LO w Szczecinie Archived 2002-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-0-226-30098-6. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
- ^ Bogusław Wieczorek, Royalties for playing unofficial national anthem of Poland go to Germany, Własność intelektualna w praktyce [2020-11-18].
- ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Poland, Copyright on The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino transferred to Poland, [2015-09-14].
External links
- Text (Polish) and music[dead link]
- Lyrics (Polish and English)
- Film on Polish 2nd Corpsat Monte Cassino, with Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino played in the background.