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
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
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
Völker, hört die Signale! Auf zum letzten Gefecht!
Die Internationale erkämpft das Menschenrecht