Poetry - in German, this time

On this day in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged in Flossenburg near Berlin; he was on the Nazi's list of political prisoners who were under no circumstances to be allowed to survive the war. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran minister and one of the founders of the 'Confessing Church', who objected to the integration of the church into the state. He was,of course, an extremely sharp theologian, and apparently a good radio broadcaster (he was finally banned from the air after describing Hitler as not a 'Führer', but a 'Verführer' (seducer)). He was employed for a time by the Abwehr, (Military Intelligence, a nest of conspirators, which explains how someone who'd been banned from public speaking could be employed as a spook), and was involved in a number of plots, including discussions about ways and means of killing Hitler; he also helped Jews to escape to Switzerland, and was arrested in 1943 because this came to light. He spent most of the rest of his life in a Gestapo prison in Berlin, but was sent to a concentration camp, tried for treason in a drumhead trial, and hanged for his connections to the July 20th plot against Hitler.

He wrote this poem shortly before New Year 1945, as a present for his parents and his fiancee. I think it's rather good, though unfortunately I haven't found a good English translation and juno_magic has kindly provided a translation in the comments.

He is commemorated today in the C of E calendar as theologian and martyr.

( Lass warm und hell die Kerzen heute flammen die Du in unsre Dunkelheit gebracht. )