joachim neander wrote:Translation from the Polish:
It should be a waiting room for the Jews who were to be employed in the camp. A second hut of 25 m length and 12,5 m width should be for those Jews who would go to the bath.
Thank you very much!
I tried to make a translation myself and it turned out similar but I am still too weak on the grammar to be sure of the exact meaning.
Perhaps if you have time left over you could help out with another text. It is an information board supposedly found at Belzec which is now in the collections of the Regional Museum of Tomaszow Lubelski.
Andrzej Kola writes about it:
Regional Museum in Tomaszow Lubelski is an owner of an original information board (found once in Bclzcc) for Jews brought to the camp, with the inscription: "Attention: Complete clothing deposition. All personal belongings except money, jewellery, documents and certificates must be left on the ground (... ) Money, jewellery and documents must be
kept until being deposited at the window. Shoes must be collected and tied in pairs and put in an indicated place. The complete undressed must be taken to bath and inhalation".
The problem with the English language edition of Kola's book (frankly I don't know if there's a Polish edition) is that it is rather clumsily translated (despite being published in cooperation with the USHMM) and has lots of apparent translation mistakes.
What caught my interest is that the Holocaust Research Project website (H.E.A.R.T.) contradict Kola and claim that the signboard is from the previous Gypsy camp which was I believe located closer to the Belzec railway station where there is a large open field (visible in the background of some photos of this camp). According to H.E.A.R.T. the text on the board reads in part in translation:
All belongings must be handed in at the counter except for money, documents and other valuables, which you must keep with you.
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org ... gypsy.html
So in the Kola translation, all personal belongings except money, jewellery, documents, and certificates
must be left on the ground, while the mentioned items should be kept until
deposited at the window.
According to the H.E.A.R.T. translation on the other hand it is all items
that are not "money, documents and other valuables" that should be handed in
at the counter - not left on the ground.
Which translation is correct? Some words on the board are unfortunately unreadable.
Best regards,
Laurentz