At the battle of the Alamo in 1836, there were at least two Germans among the defenders, Henry Courtman and Henry Thomas. Why in the world, you may ask, were Germans at a battle in south Texas fighting Mexicans? Beginning just a few years before, and continuing over the next several decades, German immigrants came to Texas in increasingly large numbers, drawn by the prospects of farming and agriculture. Eventually Germans became one of the largest ethnic groups in Texas.

They brought with them their language and customs as well as the music they had listened to back home. One of the types of music they brought to Texas with them was a new sound, the polka.

There are various stories about the origin of the polka, but it seems to have originated as a Czech dance around 1830, and probably came out of the folk music of the region. The polka quickly spread in Europe, particularly in German-speaking lands, and especially in Poland, which all but made the polka its own. Polka even found a niche in Ukrainian folk music. The polka faded in popularity in the latter part of the 19th century, but the immigrants who went to North America brought it with them where it thrived. (It is the official state dance of Wisconsin, next door to SitD.)

The classic polka is in 2/4 time, and that contributes to the popularity of the dance. It is simple and fun. The 1-2-1-2-1-2 beat is easy to keep up with, and the typical oom-PAH oom-PAH in the bass line compels your feet to move. The accordion was probably invented in Germany in the 1820s, and it became a polka staple which the Germans brought with them to Texas.

Interaction among people across borders is part of the human condition. Languages typically influence each other across borders, but cultures also intermingle and music is a part of that. The polka music the Germans planted in Texas eventually made its way south across the border to northern Mexico, and from that Mexico’s Norteño music developed. This regional music retains the influence of the accordion and the polka beat. Here’s an example, a unique blending of Central European folk music and Mexican folk music.

This background came to mind when hearing about foreign volunteers that Ukraine is trying to enlist in the defense against the Russian invasion. That effort has met with mixed success.

President Zelensky made a plea for foreign volunteers on February 27 at the very beginning of the conflict. “Anyone who wants to join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals.” Ukraine’s foreign minister elaborated on that initial plea a few days later, and Ukraine set up a website with mechanisms for foreign volunteers. By early March, Zelensky claimed that 16,000 people had signed up for the foreign legion. Given that the Ukrainian army was only 145,000 strong at the beginning of the conflict, this would have provided a major boost in strength. The foreign volunteers also provided dramatic evidence of worldwide support for the Ukrainian cause.

Retired Marine colonel Andrew Milburn, reporting for the online journal Task and Purpose, went to Ukraine and described how the volunteers were doing. In short, it was a fiasco. He depicted a scene of inexperience, war tourism, and idealism: “A swarm of Fantasists for every one candidate with experience in combat. And even combat experience means little in this war—because trading shots with the Taliban or al Qaeda is quite different from crouching in a freezing foxhole being pummeled by artillery fire.”

Virtually the entire first crop of recruits was sent home, as Milburn described “without ceremony or official notification.”

Faced with this disappointing result, Ukraine announced that it would limit participation to those with prior military or medical training.

Among the nationalities that arrived in Ukraine were some Mexicans, though Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they were unware of any Mexicans enlisting in the Ukrainian forces. What caught my eye was this person, and the reference to the state of Chihuahua:

Luis, a Mexican Army veteran, saw a photo of a wounded pregnant woman being carried out of a Ukrainian maternity hospital after a Russian airstrike and was reminded of his sister.
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The foreign volunteers asked to be identified by only their first names because of concerns they could be prosecuted upon returning home for fighting for a foreign army. A U.S. law dating to the 18th century bans citizens from fighting countries not at war with the United States, but it is rarely enforced.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said more than 20,000 people from 52 countries have volunteered to fight, a number that could not be verified. A Russian missile attack two weeks ago on a training base being used for foreign volunteers near Liviv killed at least 35 military personnel and civilians, according to Ukrainian officials. Russia said it killed 180 foreign military volunteers. Neither figure could be independently confirmed.
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Luis, 29, said he served with the Mexican Army fighting drug cartels a decade ago, but until last week, he was an events photographer in Chihuahua City, Mexico, photographing mostly weddings. Then, scrolling through Reddit, he found an Associated Press photo showing an unidentified pregnant woman on a stretcher, being carried out by rescue workers after a Russian strike against a maternity hospital in Mariupol. Russian officials said Ukrainian forces had been using the hospital as a base and said the images were fake.

“I saw the face of my sister in that woman,” Luis said. “I do not have children yet, but I imagined how the baby’s father felt, how the woman and her family felt.”

He had never met a Ukrainian before flying to Europe. But when he read the woman and her baby had died, he decided to close his studio, sell his cameras and book the four flights to get to Poland, from where he drove across the border to Ukraine.

Chihuahua is home to a unique style of Norteño that incorporates the saxophone. And, to conclude, here is a clip of a Ukrainian military band playing polka music outdoors somewhere, and playing it with a saxophone.

I’m not saying that polka music travelled west across the ocean, made its way to Mexico, took on the flavors and aromas of Mexican music and then came back east across the ocean and landed in Ukraine. Rather, music and dance and the enjoyment they bring are universal. We homo sapiens are a social creature. It is among our better nature to interact and share with each other. The darkest part of our nature is at work in Ukraine, too, and a lot of people are suffering for it, but little moments like this band on the street can lift spirits beyond its apparent proportion.

Music endures, may Ukraine endure. Strike up the band and play on!