Correspondence written in German often concerned economic matters and production in the ghetto. The vocabulary used was quite special (e.g. types of shoes), which in many cases was already out of use.
To be part of such a large-scale project
A project with such a broad range of topics required a huge source work related to the identification of persons, places, events, deciphering abbreviations or ciphers. The translators and editors - as Dr Marek Tuszewicki says - had to ensure that the notion apparatus was rendered in such a way for the reader to feel that it is another volume of the full edition of the Archive, and not to be surprised by subsequent names or situations that may otherwise be regarded as Licentia Poetica (poetic license).
The publication of the full edition took several dozen years - subsequent volumes supplemented the editors' knowledge with new information that complemented the overall image. Joanna Nalewajko-Kulikov, PhD, worked on Ringelblum's writings towards the end of the project, upon identification of several people. The great advantage of this edition in comparison with the previous editions of Ringelblum is the fact that it was possible to identify a lot of people - because they appear in other documents of the Archive or digitised documents available on the Internet.
The publishing work required constant unification of terminology and footnotes, as well as updating of the Inventory. Work is also ongoing on the preparation of a supplementary volume (volume 38. “Annexes”), which will contain, among other things, a detailed list of all the documents included in the individual volumes of the full edition.
I’m attached to certain translations
Translators admit that they are particularly attached to certain texts and are profoundly affected by them. These are Holocaust documents with an enormous emotional load. Equally important also is the awareness that one is a co-creator of the translation and that one can experience certain emotions with the author, thus honouring and venerating the author and in so doing prolonging the author’s memory. In the case of Marek Tuszewicki, PhD, it was the works of Itzhak Katzenelson, which are packed with an incredible amount of energy. Marta Dudzik-Rudkowska, in turn, feels personally connected with the text "Nakaz i ochotne spełnienie" (The order and its eager fulfilment) by Rabbi Szapira, which is extremely intimate and impressive. In it we can see not only a great tzadik, a role model for his Hassidim, but above all an exceptional man - a father, who tells the story of his child's struggles with suffering. (...) No reading of a text, whether for scientific analysis or pure pleasure, ever yields as deep contact with the author as reading for translation.
Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota translated the Zionist press. She was moved by the awareness which accompanied her during the translation work - that in the horrible conditions of the ghetto, the authors of the articles lived with the imaginations of their beloved homeland, where Jews would be safe.
For Monika Polit, PhD, her relationship with the work is meditative. As a very impatient person, working with manuscripts for this short moment makes me methodical and very attentive; it slows down my thoughts and actions. Translation is a linear process. It stops, settles, calms, soothes and detaches me.
On the other hand, Agnieszka Żółkiewska, PhD, emphasises that an important feature of a translator is humility because translators do not know what awaits them when they sit down to a text. Even if they read it previously. It is a great satisfaction, stress and responsibility of the translator towards the author, readers and researchers, as the text may also serve as a source.
We've been tasked to make it public
Agnieszka Żółkiewska, PhD, points to yet another, extremely important aspect of the work of the editorial team of the full edition of the Ringelblum Archive. The texts are one of the last to be written in Yiddish in Poland - it died along with the people who spoke it.