Translation Issues
Allgemeines — General
██so gekennzeichnete Einträge sind in den jeweils angegebenen Tagebuchartikeln nachzuarbeiten██
██Mit Anhang/Abkürzungen zusammenfassen, Einleitung einfach mit einbauen██
The majority of the foreign language texts is based on automatic translation, in parts reworked by the editor.
Older parts have been translated using Google translate, newer ones with DeepL. Dict.cc, Wikipedia and sprachgefühl (instinctive feel for the language) are used during reworking.
From 22 Nov 2020 onward the English dialect used is expressedly British English.
Phil Price and Richard Hargreaves kindly translated several pages pertaining to the early stages of "Barbarossa" in June and July 1941, Jason Mark gave lots of further hints.
Ortsnamen — Place names
Place names are mostly left in their German spelling because this is how they can be found on contemporary military maps. As the translation software tried to translate or transliterate some place names, this principle is not always followed. This may be reworked at some later time.
Terms and Expressions (Military and Non-Military)
Below you find a list of terms together with my source-based or sometimes tentative translations and a description. Bold face denotes German terms left untranslated in most instances because they are difficult to translate. The editor believes that they are well-known to military historians, anyway. May they give the text a special atmosphere. Many list items (most marked +) are only notes to the editor's self to ease translation work and insure standardised translation, they may be deleted later.
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A |
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| Abstellung | secondment | + Hauptbedeutung Abordnung | |
| Adjutant[1] | adjutant, aide (-de-camp) (ADC?) | personnel officer in a staff, then IIa, today S-1, G-1, A-1 or J-1; the term aide (-de-camp) rather pertains to Ordonnanzoffizier (O.O., O.O.1...) ██bis Frankreich prüfen██; besides the IIa and O.O., there seems to have been a third type of orderly officers serving higher commanders as a butler ██3. Begriff suchen, Gordon fragen?██; | |
| Alte, der ~ | old man, greybeard | familiar nickname for the commander | |
| Ari | arty | ██alle Seiten ändenn██ | |
B |
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| B-Stelle, VB | (forward/artillery) observation post | + cf. Abbr. | |
| Berliner | Jelly Donut | + | |
| bodenständig | immovable | ||
| Bunker | (mostly) dugout | ||
D |
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| das konnten sie nicht gut übersehen | they could not very well overlook it | + | |
| dieser X | that fellow X | + | |
| Do-Werfer, Nebelwerfer | rocket launcher | The Nebelwerfer was colloquially named Do-Werfer, acc. to LdW after Walter Dornberger who was responsible for the army's rocket development from 1932 | |
| doch | after all | + | |
E |
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| E-Werk | power station, electricity plant | + | |
| ein für alle Mal | for good | + | |
| ein gewisser X | one X | + | |
| einweisen (örtlich/Lage) | marshal (into positions)/brief (into situation) | ||
| erster Stock, 1. OG | first floor | ambiguous, simply mention ground floor, too | |
| Etappe | rear area | ||
| Etappenhengst | base wallah, rear-echelon Joe | ||
F |
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| Fertigmachen! | Listen Up, Heads Up, Look Sharp, Stand To, On Your Feet! or rather "Prepare (to move out)" | + | |
| Feuerüberfall | surprise fire, fire concentration | + | |
| filzen | frisking (and nicking) | + (body and luggage) search for forbidden items; wrong: filching or felting | |
| Flak | anti-aircraft gun/cannon | + (cf. Abbr.) [2] | |
| Fliegermarschtiefe | dispersed (air raid) formation | ██alle Seiten prüfen██ | |
| Führerreserve | Leader reserve | a unit (e.g., within the field reserve batallion of a division) consisting of officers and NCOs for quick replacement of fallen leaders and for special duties; there have been Führerreserven on all command levels[3] | |
G |
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| Garbe | burst (of fire) | + | |
H |
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| Heimkehrer | repatriate, returnee | + | |
I |
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| IG | infantry gun | + (cf. Abbr.) [2] | |
| Impressum | Imprint | + | |
| in den nächsten Tagen | any day now | + | |
K |
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| kann nur ... sein | cannot but be ... | + | |
| Karzer | karzer | + | |
| Kochgeschirr | Mess kit | ||
| Kolonne | Column (as transport unit) | ||
| Kommandant | Commandant (!) | ██bis Jan 43 prüfen██ | |
| Kommandeur | General Officer Commanding (GOC) | Is that perhaps the correct designation for an Oberbefehlshaber of an Armee or Heeresgruppe? | |
| Kommandeur | Commanding General | Gereral who commands a unit | |
| Kommandeur | Commander (Cdr), Commandig Officer (CO) | Officer who commands a unit | |
| Kommando | detachment | + | |
| Kompaniechef | company chief | closer to the German term than company commander ██alle Seiten prüfen██ | |
| Kriegslazarett | war hospital | + | |
L |
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| Lazarett | military hospital | + | |
| LFH | light field howitzer | + (cf. Abbr.) [2] | |
| Lkw | lorry | + preferred over truck which is more of an AE term ██alle Seiten prüfen██ | |
M |
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| m.d.F.b. | acting commander | + (cf. Abbr.) | |
| Marketender | sutler | + | |
| MG | machine gun | + MG will be replaced (cf. Abbr.)[2] | |
| Mücke | + gnat (gem. dict.cc), nicht moskito ██alle Seiten ändenn██ | ||
N |
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| Natschalnik | nachalnik | + | |
| nicht mehr und nicht weniger | no more nor less | + | |
| Niederwald | coppice | + | |
| NN | N.N. (nomen nescio), N.U. (name unknown) | + cf. Abbr. | |
| Norm (Arbeitsnorm) | work norm, average work rate, quota, job norm | ||
O |
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| OA | officer candidate, officer aspirant, aspirant officer | + cf. Abbr. | |
| Oberfeldwebel | (Technical, First) Sergeant | + rarely assigned third NCO grade, suitable, e. g., for Sergeant Major duties[3] cf. Ranks ██alle ändern██ | |
| Oberbefehlshaber | commander | better, in general, than C-in-C which rather means Oberster Befehlshaber or Oberbefehlshaber of a whole component (cf. Ranks) | |
| Ordonnanzoffizier[1] (O.O.) | special-missions staff officer, orderly officer, aide-de-camp (ADC) | see Adjutant | |
P |
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| Pak | anti-tank gun/cannon | + (cf. Abbr.) [2] | |
| Panjepferd | Panje horse, Konik | the typical horse used by the local farmers | |
| Panjewagen | farmer's cart | the typical cart used by the local farmers | |
| Pionier... | combat engineer(ing) ... | ||
| Pritsche | cot | + ██alle Seiten prüfen: Erst anders übersetzt?██ | |
R |
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| Reservelazarett | military reserve hospital | + | |
S |
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| Sani, Sanitäter | Medic | wrong: Paramedic ██alle Seiten ändern██ | |
| Spieß | Sergeant Major, First Sergeant | cf. Ranks | |
| Staffel (as a company sub-unit) | echelon | air force „Staffel“ remains squadron | |
| Stomarsch (Stabsoffizier für Marschüberwachung) | Field officer for traffic control | a unit for traffic control (not a military police unit) reinforced by Führerreserve personnel | |
| Störungsfeuer | harassing fire | + | |
T |
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| Teileinheitsführer | platoon ... leader | + | |
| Tross | train | + | |
V |
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| verschieben | to traffick | + to steal and sell illegally | |
| vor nichts zurückschrecken | shrink at nothing | + | |
W |
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| Wattejacke | telogreika[4] | + | |
| Weißt Du was, ... | You know something, ... | + | |
| Widerworte geben | talk back to sb. | + there are variants to this | |
Z |
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| z.b.V. | special purpose | + cf. Abbr. | |
| Zeltbahn | shelter half | ||
| Zwölfender | ? | cf. diary texts | |
Lautmalerei — OnomatopoeiaThe author often tried to convey an impression of battle sounds by using certain expressions based on their German pronounciation. The editor as a translator tried to paint the sound the German expressions convey, based on his understanding of English pronounciation, not translate them as terms even if standard translations are proposed. Days with a remarkable lot of onomatopoeia: 17.12.43 | |||
| Brruch | Brroukh or Smmash | Jason's proposal: Crrack. Sometimes "crash" is too high a pitch. Over and above this, the German "ach" sound[5] (shown as "kh") paints the ensuing spray of splinters, debris etc. after an explosion. | |
| Rums | Boom, boum | In one place "Rums" is translated to "Boom", which is not too bad; in German, "bums" is more of a harmless sounding children's expression. | |
| Ziu | Tseeou | ||
| Urräää | Oorraaa(y) | ||
| more to be added | |||
| Pronunciation respelling key | |||
Further Information
Further help with terms and translation is available here:
- List of Abbreviations
- Link List – Dictionaries
- Link List – Rank Comparison
- German rank and unit designations
- Russische Begriffe — Russian terms
- ↑ 1,0 1,1 In modern Bundeswehr the term Adjutant denotes a function similar to the former Ordonnanzoffizier.
- ↑ 2,0 2,1 2,2 2,3 2,4 still unsure wether to always use the abbreviation and put the long form into the list of abbreviations only, or always right away use the long form
- ↑ 3,0 3,1 Facebook group prefers to leave this term untranslated
- ↑ a jacket padded with cotton wool
- ↑ pronounced like Scottish "loch", see Voiceless velar fricative, Voiceless uvular fricative and ach-Laut