Hymn of Hate against England

Ernst Lissauer

1914

French and Russian they matter not,
A blow for a blow and a shot for a shot;
We love them not, we hate them not.
We hold the Weichsel and Vosges-gate,
We have but one—and only hate,
We love as one, we hate as one,
We have one foe and one alone.
He is known to you all, he is known to you all,
He crouches behind the dark grey flood,
Full of envy, of rage, of…
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Creator Bio

Ernst Lissauer

1882–1937

Born in Berlin to an assimilated bourgeois family that cofounded the de-Hebraicized Berlin Reform community, Ernst Lissauer was educated in Prussian schools. After attending the University of Leipzig, he worked as a freelance writer in Munich and, in 1912, argued in Moritz Goldstein’s Kunstwart debate that all German Jews must emigrate or fully assimilate. In September 1914, Lissauer wrote his famous “Haßgesang gegen England” (Hymn of Hate against England), which became a war anthem for the German Empire. In 1924, Lissauer moved to Vienna, where he continued to write poetry and plays. He was awarded the German Order of the Red Eagle (1915).

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