Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

German/Austrian Translation - could anyone help please?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • German/Austrian Translation - could anyone help please?

    I am starting to look into my husband's family history.
    Amongst his documents is a letter which was written by what I believe to be an Austrian man, to my husbands grandmother.
    Her son died as a prisoner of war .. I believe they were woking on a farm. No one seems to know what the letter says, I don't think they ever got it translated.

    Is there anyone who may possibly be able to look at a copy if I scan it with a view to seeing what it actually says?

    I would be very grateful

  • #2
    Hi Muppet, I don't know if anybody has messaged you personally with help, but if not there is a very good translation site where you could type in the letter and it will translate it for you. Will go and find it - I used to have it bookmarked but for some obscure reason I seem to have deleted it!
    Sally - Researching amongst others, JOSEPHY; WRIGHTSON; COOPER; GLOVER; DOWNING AND DICKINSON.

    Comment


    • #3
      I'll PM you my email address if you want to send it to me, Muppet, but I can't promise to be much help! I will have a try though, but it will depend on how neat the handwriting is. I have some old German family postcards etc which are so scrawled that I've got nowhere much with them.
      KiteRunner

      Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
      (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

      Comment


      • #4
        Here it is

        Free Translation and Professional Translation Services from SDL

        ooh, that was strange!!! I typed in the address and it turned into what shows above.
        Sally - Researching amongst others, JOSEPHY; WRIGHTSON; COOPER; GLOVER; DOWNING AND DICKINSON.

        Comment


        • #5
          If it's like German letters etc that I've seen, then the problem may be in deciphering what the words are more than translating them, Sally.
          KiteRunner

          Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
          (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

          Comment


          • #6
            Ah, I expect you are right Kite, in which case a translation site is of no use
            Sally - Researching amongst others, JOSEPHY; WRIGHTSON; COOPER; GLOVER; DOWNING AND DICKINSON.

            Comment


            • #7
              I see Muppet is offline now.

              I pmed her and she doesn't have the letter at present - she's going to e-mail it to me when she gets it (left at a family member's house).

              I hope the handwriting is easy to read!
              Elizabeth
              Research Interests:
              England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
              Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

              Comment


              • #8
                I'm not an expert, but I might be able to contribute something if there's a word or phrase where another opinion might help.

                I had a feeling that there was at least one person here who had real expertise in this field?

                Christine
                Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thank you to all of you for your offers of help and information.

                  I was so excited at the prospect of possibly getting the letter translated only to find that my husband had left it with his mother by mistake.

                  As soon as I get it back I will let those of you who have kindly offered to look at it have a scanned copy.

                  From what I remember of it it is quite an ornate style of writing and was written by the local priest in the village in the village where Oliver James Martin was working as a prisoner of war, prior to his death.

                  It seems so sad that the family have treasured it for all these years without knowing what it says although we can no doubt guess at it.

                  If anyone is able to translate it I will post the results on here if anyone would be interested in seeing them.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Thanks to the kindness of Elizabeth and Wolf, I now have a translation for the letter.

                    Thank you to all who offered to assist, I really appreciate it.

                    The contents of the letter were -

                    Dear Mr Smith,

                    Your enquiry took me somewhat by surprise me but I am pleased that you are interested in the fate that befell dear Martin.

                    Please excuse my question, but you have only just arrived in Austria with the occupying forces, isn’t that right? Martin once spoke of you. I now want to ask you to come in person to Eichberg, and I am extending you a warm invitation.

                    I could tell you everything in person and you could also visit Martin’s grave. I hope my huge request won’t make you angry.

                    I’m sincerely looking forward to receiving your reply.


                    Yours, Rosa Harl

                    (Eichberg 2 Post Rohrbach a.d. Lafnitz)


                    It seems this was written, not to the family but to a friend of Oliver Martins who was returned to England whilst Oliver was too sick to travel and had to be left behind. How awful that your fellow prisoners of war are going home and you cannot. He obviously did not recover and died and was buried out there.

                    The parish priest added text on the envelope to Mr Smith and it sounds as though poor Oliver Martin had a really awful death.

                    Translation -

                    Martin O. is died at the 6.Apr.1945 early and buried in the Guglberger cemetery. I took part, when he has died. He could not go along with his colleagues any more, he was already too ill there and a doctor could not be had because it was too far to the medical orderly.
                    Martin was a tall fellow! That one of the known XXXX will quite more exactly write to you as his illness went. Martin has died awfully. Fuller was noticeably cold. I would prefer murder, for 6 days suffer
                    With greeting Kerschberger, parish priest
                    Eichberg, 20 12.1945


                    The letter was actually given to the family by his friend Mr Smith when he visited them. At last the family have the information in the letters, sad though it is. Hopefully one day my husband and I may get out to visit the grave.

                    Once again, thanks so much for all your help.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      A sad tale indeed.

                      I found the envelope very hard to read, not helped by the large postmark, so thanks to Wolf for his familiarity with the writing!

                      So sad that he didn't receive any medical care.
                      Elizabeth
                      Research Interests:
                      England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
                      Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        A tip for extending copies like this:
                        Establish a DIN A3 page with a graphics program. I used a old version of CorelDraw.
                        After this the copy (most JGP file) import and extend correspondingly. One then also can recognize the bad notation better.
                        Do not always safeguard everything, as in the case of this postcard only some were still recognizable by the stamp,
                        The extension also recognizes the distinction of the partly similar letters but one better.
                        Wolf

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X