HOME TASKS. Nuremberg Trial and Interpreting

Class 7

1. Test 1.

2. Read a shortened text and put down symbols

3. News reports and interpreting

4. Shortened sentences

5. Memory training

6. Interpreting a text

Home tasks:

1) Chuzhakin pp. 23-30

2) Dictation of symbols

3) Compress the text (10 lines) according to the rules (in Ukrainian) and translate it.

HOME TASKS. Nuremberg Trial and Interpreting.

The Nuremberg Trial against leading Nazi war criminals, conducted from November 1945 to August 1946, was one of the great and unique events of the twentieth century. The complete record of the trial in daily transcripts and supporting documents was published shortly thereafter in more than 40 volumes. Estimates vary, but it has been referred to as a “six-million-word trial”. Yet, unbelievable as this may sound, not one word is said in this official, published record about the system of simul­taneous interpretation that was created in order to permit the multilin­gual conduct of the trial.

The system of simultaneous interpretation was crafted by trial and error in an attic room of the Nuremberg Palace of Justice. It served its purpose well and without it the trial would have taken four times as long. To some, at first, the very idea of multilingual instanta­neous interpretation was unthinkable… By now, more than 50 years later, it is evident that simultaneous interpretation has been a success. It is used all over the world and has greatly improved commu­nication, thereby promoting, it is hoped, a better understanding among nations.

Interpreting today is taken for granted at international conferences. There are permanent booth installations in every major conference hall around the world. It is, however, a remarkably new profession, whose origins date back to less than a century ago. Interpreting was born around 1920, after languages other than French were recognized as official diplomatic languages. Consecutive and whispering interpreting were the first techniques used; interpreting at the League of Nations in Geneva before the Second World War was similar to simultaneous interpreting, but simultaneous interpreting as we know it today was invented later.

The need for interpretation became more acute with the founda­tion of the League of Nations and the meetings of the International Labor Organization. At these meetings, the discussions dealt not only with diplomatic matters, but also with issues that did not normally appear on the agenda of international conferences, such as economic issues of recovery or labor issues. Inclusion of specific technical sub­jects in such discussions increased the need for expert linguists to carry out the translations. Moreover, it sometimes happened that groups of delegates, such as trade unionists, would speak neither English nor French. They were therefore supplied with interpreters who whispered them the translation of the proceedings in their languages and inter­preted their speeches consecutively.

The increased need for qualified professional interpreters brought about the birth of the first School for Interpreters in Geneva in 1941. At that time the school trained the candidates in whispering and consecutive interpreting, and taught only four languages. It was the only School for Interpreters in the world and was created to train professional interpreters mainly for the League of Nations in Geneva. In 1945, the Allies plus China met to lay down the Charter of the United Nations. At the San Francisco Conference in June 1945, and at the London meetings in early 1946, during which the first Secretary General was selected, interpretation was only consecutive, performed by famous interpreters, such as Jean Meyer, George Rabinotwitch and the Kaminker brothers, under the supervision of Jean Herbert.

Neither whispering nor consecutive interpreting were satisfac­tory methods of translation. Although whispered, the interpreter’s voice interfered with the voice of the speaker. Moreover, only a small group of delegates could listen to the translation. As for consecutive, it was appallingly slow, because every sentence had to be repeated in every other working language… In addition, the majority of the delegates, after listening to the transla­tion into their language, had to sit and wait for the action to proceed, while hearing languages they did not understand. International confer­ences needed a more efficient method, and the system of simultaneous interpretation was invented. The Nuremberg Trial was the first official international gathering in which simultaneous interpretation was used.

Recruiting interpreters for Nuremberg was a two-step process. Candi­dates were tested for language skills in their home countries. The selected candidates were then sent to Nuremberg, where Dostert would test them for simultaneous interpreting. (Obviously the most experienced, best qualified person to handle this task was Leon Dostert, who had devised and promoted the simultaneous interpreting system in the first place.) The criteria for selection were very strict because of the difficulty of the job. Hence, not only was it extremely hard to find people to be selected for Nuremberg; of those selected, only a few became interpreters.

Initial Recruiting at the Pentagon. The recruitment process started in the U.S. because this was the nation organizing and financing the language services. In order to test the candidates, Peter Uiberall would ask them to name 10 trees, 10 automobile parts, 10 agricultural implements, etc., in two languages. He was testing not only general language knowledge: his tests were job-oriented, since interpreters were required to be knowl­edgeable about a variety of fields and to master the corresponding vocabulary in the languages they wanted to work in. he remembers his surprise at the number of city people who could not name agricultural implements in their native language.

Testing and Hiring Interpreters in Nuremberg. All the people who passed the language tests administered in Washington, D.C. or by their respective governments were sent to Nuremberg for the second part of the hiring process. Selection in the first part of the process did not imply that they could interpret simultaneously. The potential interpreters were given extensive testing in order to determine if they were actually able to listen and translate at the same time. The tests were given regardless of nationality, that is, into-German interpreters could be French or British nationals, as long as they mastered the German language.

The interpreting test consisted of a mock trial situation in which the potential interpreters were put in the booth and had to interpret simultaneously into their mother tongue or the language with which they felt most comfortable. In these mock trials, some people played the judges, some the prosecutors, etc., and they read documents or improvised speeches according to what they thought a real trial would look like. It was easy to determine which candidates could translate simultaneously and which could not stand the nervous strain. Speed was the acid test. The pace of reading was increased gradually to reach normal and then fast speech. If interpreters could not handle normal speed of discourse, they would not be suited for the job.

The system would only work if three requirements would be met. First, the mechanical equipment had to be efficient. Second, the whole court had to be disciplined in speaking: people had to speak slowly and one at a time. Finally, the system would only work if every delegation recruited top-notch interpreters.