Sippenhaft

[Music by Sergio Fernández Ribnikov & Guillermo C. / Lyrics by Sergio Fernández Ribnikov]

The Nazi regime strongly believed in the olden glory of their people, in such a way that they sought to restore some of the customs of their Teutonic forefathers. Sippenhaftung was maybe the most clever stratagem developed by the Third Reich to keep control over their own followers and manipulate them in countless, unimaginable ways.

"Sippenhaft dictated that not only a traitor's life but the lives of his entire family became forfeit when judgment was rendered against him. Children, parents, the aged and infirm, none were spared. There was no appeal, and the sentence, once decreed, was swiftly executed"
[Greg Iles].

I'm a soldier for the Reich,
I'm the archetype of the Aryan übermensch,
But I am not proud of what I've done,
I've killed so many that I finally lost all count.

I was so blind; I did not see my dream,
Of unity differed completely from reality,
But nothing is like it should be and I feel,
I can't breathe, when I recall the madness and the carnage.

I never wanted to be the pawn in this game,
Never wanted to see what I've seen,
I naively hope that someday I'll be set free,
Days are passing by and I'm still enslaved and forgotten.

...enslaved and forgotten.

I fear not for my life but for that of my wife and son,
A pledge of allegiance with a high price,
These binds of flesh are a wicked machination,
Punishment to the clan, our downfall is called Sippenhaft.

I'm a man in quest for his redemption,
Whose dreams have turned him into a slave to the slaughterhouse,
I wish I could go back in time and turn the story round,
And then I would have held back my passion.

Call me a fool, but at that time the idea sounded right,
I guess I am a fool,
We were supposed to raise our country from its ashes,
But this way everyday there are more and more ashes...

I never wanted to be the pawn in this game,
Never wanted to see what I've seen,
I have lost any hope that I'll be set free,
Days are passing by, and I'm still enslaved and forgotten.

What am I supposed to do when all hope is lost?
Close my eyes and cry while I pull the trigger?
This is no way of life; it's rather a taste of death,
Farewell to you all; it's the only way out.

What's there for me?
Silky clouds or ravenous fire?
Death, set me free,
I'll kill no more; this last bullet is for me.