History Translations

German WWI soldier, Dieter Finzen

I’ve been contacted by the person running the online journal of Dieter Finzen and asked if I would be willing to do translations for the site. The idea behind the site is to post journal entries made by the German World War I solider, Dieter Finzen. Each entry is posted 93 years after it was originally written. The entries were originally written in German of course, but I will be translating them into English. The English translations will be posted at the same time as the original German versions. There will also be French translations for those of you who prefer French.

I find the journal very interesting because it provides a good insight into the life of a German soldier during the First World War. As Americans, we hear about the American, British and French sides of the war, but we rarely get an opportunity to see it from the German perspective. This website gives us a unique view of what life was like for the German solider during this war.

You can find the blog here: http://dieter-finzen.blogspot.com.

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David Irving's Translation of Der Dienst: Erinnerungen 1942-1971

For anyone who is going to be working with the memoirs of Reinhard Gehlen, do not use David Irving’s translation of it, entitled: The Service: The Memoirs of General Reinhard Gehlen. For a project I am working on, I have been dealing with both Irving’s translation as well as the original book in German written by Gehlen himself (Der Dienst: Erinnerungen 1942-1971). I read the German version cover to cover for this project and have been attempting to use Irving’s translation as a quick reference to check for facts, however, as I have been using the translation, not only is information missing from the original in his translation (I’ve had to check the original multiple times to verify it was actually there), but there are actually pages and pages of accounts and “memories” that don’t exist anywhere in the original!

The accounts may be true for all I know, but they are presented as though Gehlen told them (though he did not in his memoirs) and there are no references cited. It has been most frustrating and I do intend to report this inaccuracy to the university. Perhaps they will dispose of the book as anyone who is unable to read the German version would have no idea otherwise, possibly leading to inaccuracy.

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