"Zemlyanka" was the name for a

German-Soviet War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

written by

Alexey Surkov Alexey Alexandrovich Surkov (russian: Алексе́й Алекса́ндрович Сурко́в; October 13, 1899 in Yaroslavl Province, Russian Empire – June 14, 1983 in Moscow, USSR) was a Russian poetry, Russian Soviet poet, editor, lite ...

(verses) and

Konstantin Listov Konstantin Yakovlevich Listov (russian: Константи́н Я́ковлевич Листо́в; – 6 September 1983) was a Soviet composer. He is the composer of many widely popular songs, which include "Pesnya o Tachanke" (" Song of the Tach ...

(music) in 1941 during the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

. The use of

zemlyanka Zemlyanka (Russian, Belarusian, uk, землянка. cz, zemljanka, pl, ziemianka, sk, zemľanka) is a North Slavic name for a dugout or ''earth-house'' which was used to provide shelter for humans or domestic animals as well as for food sto ...

s by soldiers is mentioned in the song.

Story

In November 1941, Alexey Surkov (who became a war correspondent of the '' Krasnoarmeyskaya Pravda'' newspaper at the very beginning of the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

) came under fire from German infantry near the Kashino village along with 258th Rifle Regiment. Having broken through the offensive and crossed the river on thin ice under

mortar fire A mortar is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, Muzzleloader, muzzle-loaded weapon, consisting of a Smoothbore, smooth-bore (although some models use a Rifling, rifled barrel) metal tube fixed to a base plate (to spread out the recoil) w ...

, Surkov found that his overcoat was all cut by

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

. After arriving in Ulyashino village, everyone was placed in a zemlyanka. The Chief of Staff fell asleep right at the table, as he had not slept for four days; the others settled down near the stove, someone started playing the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

. Surkov began to make sketches for the report, but the poem turned out. In February 1942, Konstantin Listov composed the melody to the poem. On March 25, 1942, the song was published in ''

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925. History and profile During the Soviet era, ...

''.

English Lyrics

:The fire is flickering in the narrow stove :Resin oozes from the log like a tear :And the concertina in the bunker :Sings to me of your smile and eyes. :The bushes whispered to me about you :In a snow-white field near Moscow :I want you above all to hear :How sad my living voice is. :You are now very far away :Expanses of snow lie between us :It is so hard for me to come to you :And here there are four steps to death. :Sing concertina, in defiance of the snowstorm. :Call out to that happiness which has lost its way. :I'm warm in the cold bunker, :Because of your inextinguishable love. :(Stalingrad by

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works on the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War. Early life Born in Kensington, Beevor was educated at two ...

Russian Lyrics

:Бьётся в тесной печурке огонь, :На поленьях смола, как слеза. :И поёт мне в землянке гармонь :Про улыбку твою и глаза. :Про тебя мне шептали кусты :В белоснежных полях под Москвой. :Я хочу, чтобы слышала ты, :Как тоскует мой голос живой. :Ты сейчас далеко, далеко, :Между нами снега и снега. :До тебя мне дойти не легко, :А до смерти — четыре шага. :Пой, гармоника, вьюге назло, :Заплутавшее счастье зови. :Мне в холодной землянке тепло :От моей негасимой любви.

Popular culture

The entire poem was mentioned in the 2005 Canadian historical novel, '' Four Steps to Death'', by John Wilson, in which Red Army soldiers sing it on the way from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

(present-day

Volgograd Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

). The title of the novel is derived from a line of the poem, "And here there are four steps to death." The song is part of the repertoire of the

Alexandrov Ensemble The Alexandrov Ensemble ( rus, Ансамбль Александрова, r=Ansambl' Aleksandrova; commonly known as the Red Army Choir in the West) is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. Founded during the Soviet era, the e ...

Well-known performers

Yaroslav Alexandrovich Evdokimov Yaroslav Alexandrovych Yevdokimov ( uk, Ярослав Олександрович Евдокимов), born 22 November 1946) is a baritone, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, and People's Artist of the Belarus. Honoured ranks * 17 April 1 ...

* Mikhail Novokhizhin *

Vladimir Troshin Vladimir Konstantinovich Troshin (russian: Влади́мир Константи́нович Тр́ошин; 15 May 1926 – 25 February 2008) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian film and theater actor and singer. In 1951, at the age of 25, for ...

Additional information

A response song exists — "The answer to the song "Zemlyanka"" — on behalf of the woman the fighter is addressing; as well as a song-dialogue between this fighter and this woman. In Russian

References

*Wilson, John. Four Steps to Death. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zemlyanka (Song) Russian songs Soviet songs 1941 songs Lidia Ruslanova songs