Hello,
In spite of my Fireside book and other sources stating it was written in a Nazi concentration camp, my mother, born 1917, swears they had it on a recording when she was a small child. I'm inclined to trust her musical memory: she remembers many other songs from childhood. She always assumed it originated in WWI, in Russia. If so, it would not be surprizing for prizoners of the Nazis who happened to know the song to adapt it. But the "peat bog soldiers" phraze remained intact.
Anyone else have a long memory?

All the best,
Andy