Legion Uses "Nazi" Music- Article

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Mr. Dorosh, ...was that you?

Legion pulls radio spot after discovering background music was Nazi party march
A Nazi party anthem that was accidentally selected as background music for a Royal Canadian Legion lottery advertisement caused so many complaints it was pulled Monday, the day it first aired on Alberta-wide radio stations. "It should never have happened, that's why it was taken off," said Harvey Shevalier, first vice-president of the Alberta and Northwest Territories command for the legion. "[Members] are very disgruntled or disappointed that it would even get out there without somebody knowing what it was. And rightfully so. I mean, God darn it all, we've paid the price, many times over." The anthem, called the Horst Wessel Lied, features deep drums and energetic brass and calls for a sprinkling of Hitler salutes throughout the song. Mr. Shevalier said a military historian called the Legion to alert them to the musical mistake.

http://www.canada.com/dawsoncreek/story.html?id=16ca2c17-6d82-40b1-a381-c5e516eebae8

 

[Horse_Soldier]

Perhaps marketing company who recorded the ad are just another casualty of the piss-poor job Canadian educational institutions are doing in teaching history...  It's scary when supposedly educated people have no notion about something as blatantly nazi as the Horst Wessel Lied.

 

[Infanteer]

Wow, I could understand a German marching song or something getting through, but Horst Wessel?

 

[Pencil Tech]

What's equally shocking is that it got on the air either without being auditioned by the Legion or worse, someone from the Legion approved it.

 

[mo-litia]

What's next; the Red Army March Past being played at our Remberance Day ceremonies?  ;D

 

[Horse_Soldier]

Hmm - IIRC the Red Army and its predecessor the Imperial Russian Army were our allies in both world wars - and in WW2 in particular, the Red Army absorbed the brunt of the fighting and the casualties  

 

[Gunnar]

They also killed a lot of Poles at Katyn, starved most of the Ukraine, etc., etc.  Yes, they were allies during WWII, but the Legion, and the fight for freedom doesn't immediately bring to mind the valiant communists....Russians, maybe.

Recent history trumps ancient history is all.

 

[old medic]

When you apply to the legion, you must sign off that your not a communist.

 

[Infanteer]

When you apply to the legion, you must sign off that your not a communist.

Actually, I think you sign off stating that you do not belong to an organization that advocates the overthrow of the Canadian Government.

 

[old medic]

www.legion.ca/asp/pdf/membership/MemApp_e.pdf

" I hereby solemnly declare that I am not a communist, fascist or anarchist, and do not, and will not, support any organization advocating the overthrow of our government by force or which advocates, encourages or participates in subversive action or propaganda."


You sign off on both.

 

[Infanteer]

Ok, thanks for the correction - I knew there was something about violent overthrow....

 

[Michael Dorosh]

LOL - my buddy in Wainwright heard this and phoned me to tell me about it.  I'm sorry I never heard it.

There are no "Hitler salutes" in the actual lyrics, unless they are talking about crowd noises during a live recording.  The song does mention Hitler, as in "Hitlerfahnen" - Hitler's flags, which will "one day fly throughout Germany" or somesuch.

The lyrics are innocuous enough, mostly about Hitler bringing bread and freedom to a desperate people.  The first verse (VERY loosely translated is

Clear the streets!  Raise the flags!
The Stormtroopers march with a quiet steady pace!
The spirits of our comrades, shot down by the Red Front and Reactionaries
March with us....

The song is certainly more martial sounding (music wise) than Maple Leaf Forever...and one would think instantly recognizable.  This was not only THE theme song of the Nazi Party, but also became part of the official German national anthem, played in tandem with Deutschland Lied ("Deutschland über Alles) until about May 1945.  Unfathomable how it was selected....

And obviously wholly inappropriate to recognize Canadian veterans, tens of thousands who died fighting them....