O Tannenbaum O Tannenbaum "" (; "O fir tree", English: "O Christmas Tree") is a German Christmas song. Based on a traditional folk song, it became associated with the traditional Christmas tree by the early 20th century and sung as a Christmas carol. The modern lyrics were written in 1824, by the Leipzig organist, teacher and composer Ernst Anschütz. A "Tannenbaum" is a fir tree. The lyrics do not actually refer to Christmas, or describe a decorated Christmas tree. Instead, they refer to the fir's evergreen quality as a symbol of constancy and faithfulness. Anschütz based his text on a 16th-century Silesian
Albert Tannenbaum his services. Perhaps the most famous murder committed by Tannenbaum as a member of Murder, Inc. was that of Harry Greenberg, nicknamed "Big Greenie", in Los Angeles on November 22, 1939. Tannenbaum had been assigned to the hit by Buchalter, who at the time was on the lam from New York District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey and was trying to eliminate potential witnesses that Dewey could use. Tannenbaum followed Greenberg first to Montreal and then to Detroit before finally catching up to him in Los Angeles and killing him under the supervision of (and with the assistance of) the Syndicate's