"Siekiera, motyka" (, ''"Axe, Hoe"'') is a famous Polish Resistance

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and street-level

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. ...

from the period of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It became the most popular song of occupied

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, and then, of the entire

occupied Poland ' (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV 2 (Norway), TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. ...

.Stanisław Salmonowicz, ''Polskie Państwo Podziemne'', Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, Warszawa, 1994, , p.255 The song was inspired by an old humorous folk-tune performed already in 1917 with different and constantly changing lyrics, adapted for the army in a 1938 publication under a different title.

Creation

The wartime lyrics of the song were created around August 1942 in Warsaw,"Siekiera, motyka"
''Biblioteka Polskiej Piosenki'' 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2020. by a member of ZWZ Anna Jachnina, young wife of an army captain from before the invasion. It quickly spawned many variants. In 1943 it was published in print by the Polish resistance underground presses, in the ''Posłuchajcie ludzie... isten, folks'' book, one of the ''

bibuła The Polish underground press, devoted to prohibited materials ( sl. , lit. semitransparent blotting paper or, alternatively, , lit. second circulation), has a long history of combatting censorship of oppressive regimes in Poland. It existed th ...

'' publications of Propaganda Commission (''Komisja Propagandy'') of

Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

(Home Army). The music - and in part the lyrics - was based on an existing melody and the words of older songs.

Performance and influence

Germans from late 1942 penalized singing of that song (and similar ones), but

sung poetry Sung poetry is a broad and imprecise music genre widespread in European countries, such as Poland and the Baltic States, especially Poland and Lithuania, to describe songs consisting of a poem (most often a ballad) and music written especially ...

, ballads and other patriotic songs would remain popular in occupied Poland throughout the period. ''Siekiera, motyka'' would remain the most popular patriotic, occupation period street song of occupied Poland. The song tells about the life in occupied Warsaw. A notable theme of the song, particularly strong in some variants, was the description of German practice of ''

łapanka ''Łapanka'' (; English: "roundup" or "catching") was the Polish name for a World War II practice in German-occupied Poland, whereby the German SS, Wehrmacht and Gestapo rounded up civilians on the streets of Polish cities. The civilians arrest ...

'', the street round-ups of random passers-by.Instytut Historii (Polska Akademia Nauk), ''Acta Poloniae Historica'', 1983,
Google Print, p.160
/ref> The song was reprinted in several books and discs after the German occupation ended. The song was also featured in a movie

Zakazane piosenki ''Forbidden Songs'' ( Polish: ''Zakazane piosenki'' ) is a 1946 Polish musical film directed by Leonard Buczkowski. It was the first feature film to be created in Poland following the six years of World War II. The film, set during the German ...

(''Forbidden Songs'') made in Poland in 1946.

Lyrics

References

Notes

External links

Music
(mid file) *{{YouTube, I6wW1VWV_1c, ''Siekiera, motyka'' in the movie ''Zakazane piosenki'' 1942 songs Polish patriotic songs Protest songs Songs of World War II Songs in Polish