European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 24, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                              By Charles Graham staff writer she started As a purely German Fraulein but before Long she had crossed the lines from the German afrika corps to the British 8th Armand wound up in a variety of languages As the sweetheart of the fighting men of world War ii. Today Lili Marleen still brings in some royalties from a number of countries but in the land of its birth the haunting Melody Only leaves a bitter taste in the Mouths of those who re member it. They Don t sing Lili Marleen any where much in Germany today the song s composer Norbert Schultze told a newsman in Berlin several months ago. It s associated with the War. Maybe a pianist in a bar will play it around one o clock in the morning when a group of old officers full of Beer de Mand it but he hates  nobody cared for the song much when it was first written either. The words were penned in 1917 by poet Hans Leip when he was a Young Soldier in Berlin. About 30 different tunes were combined with the four stanza poem in the following years but depression Ridden Germany could t have careless. In 1938 Schultze then a Young com Poser of Light music was commissioned to turn out some tunes to go with verses from an anthology of Leip poems. Lili was one of the tunes but the Singer who commissioned the work was t impressed with the Melody. J. He next year Schultze gave the song to Lale Andersen a Little known Caba ret Singer in Berlin. She did t really Uke the song either but she put it in her act anyway. Audiences seemed to go for the song Well enough and a few months later she Cut a record. The record sold 700 copies then die quietly. Lale continued her cabaret Rou Tine in obscurity and Schultze went on to become one of Hitler s propaganda song writers penning morale boosters such As bombs on England an tanks Roll in  then in 1941, with Rommel s tanks roiling through Africa a propaganda radio station was set up in freshly Cap tured Belgrade Yugoslavia to beam a i p�06rams" to the Panzer Armee nid new Slation s studios wer Luiea with lots of propaganda material it no records. A Soldier was sent to Vienna to find 5�me music and returned with a hand he Dusty selections which he had a Cella i on one record called Arlen " was a bl8le Ca Intro seemed appropriate fare for Good an soldiers. �ir?�a?.10 by 8 Ade played Liu for the a a 18� 194l within week station was flooded with thousands 5 e g fixtures the last son of pm tune rapidly spread throughout it by a dozei1 Dio stations playing 1m4p,�.limes a Day from 1941 too l a quickly crossed the front lines sir in cd Side countless  m a11 languages Many of the u being earthy enough to become wednesday april 24, 1968 Lale Andersen underneath the lamp Post made first Lili disc. Marlene Dietrich still sings her own Lilly  n. A sing again publicly until the end of the War. After the War she picked up her sing ing career but it rocked along with the constant unspectacular Ity of her pre War years. She retired in 1967.when the War ended Schultze was marked As a nazi propagandist and blackballed from performing. In 1948 he managed to slip away to Brunswick and slowly began rebuilding his musical Ca reer. Today in Berlin he is mildly successful in writing operas and music for films and television but Berlin papers still Call him a nazi  the world War i Soldier poet Hans Leip who wrote the poem Lili mar Leen escaped to Switzerland during world War ii. He is an award winning poet and novelist today. Ribald classics in their own  such Nasty nonsense could become detrimental to English morale in 1942, the British government commissioned Tommy Connor a noted pop music lyricist i saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus to come up with an official version. Connor anglicized the title to Lilli Marlene but he candidly admitted he did t like the tune or the words he wrote. It was recorded by Anne Shelton but the Singer most often associated with it is Marlene Dietrich who still sings it in her repertoire , Uhi Norbert Schultze added the music. I1ile the song was seemingly loved by everyone through the War years it brought precious Little Fame Fortune or happiness to those who had created  Andersen was constantly hounded by the Gestapo accused by Goebbels who hated the song of a Friendship with a Swiss jew and of seeking his help in getting out of Germany. She was threatened with being sent to a concentration Camp in 1942 and did not the stars and stripes poet Hans Leip penned the lyrics. Page