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A Corporal's Life in the Wehrmacht

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 4:11 pm
by dsetzer
The 18-year old Werner Mork volunteered for the Wehrmacht immediately after the outbreak of war in September of 1939. He was still in the army when the war ended in 1945.

His memoirs constitute a full-faceted portrait of the daily life of a simple soldier in the German army.

Many episodes of his story have been published online by the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum), but those posts are not very useful for non-German speakers.

I have received permission to publish English translations online.

Two have been completed so far.

One recounts Mr. Mork's arrival in North Africa in 1942 and speaks of the hardships of daily life with the Afrika Korps.

In the second he tells of his ordeal during the evacuation of Sardinia, across Corsica to the Italian mainland in 1943.

I believe these to be really incredible documents and a must for serious students of WW II.

Please stop by: http://home.comcast.net/~dhsetzer/Mork/ to take a look. We are particularly interested in your impressions and comments on these memoirs.

Re: A Corporal's Life in the Wehrmacht

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 5:00 pm
by phylo_roadking
Many episodes of his story have been published online by the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum), but those posts are not very useful for non-German speakers.
http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... n%26sa%3DG

Re: A Corporal's Life in the Wehrmacht

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:10 pm
by dsetzer
It is astonishing what the robot translators can do, and in many cases they are the only option.

I do not think of myself as being very strong in German, but I do think that my translation is a bit more readable and understandable than the automated service.

Do you agree?

Re: A Corporal's Life in the Wehrmacht

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:23 pm
by phylo_roadking
It is astonishing what the robot translators can do
Quite. Though not necessarily in the sense you mean! :D :D :D

One of my personal favourites...

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... %26hl%3Den

The Polish 20th Infantry Division were occupying the plutonium reserves???

Hmmm.."WWII ended on the 3rd of September 1939 when Poland nuked Berlin"...

Re: A Corporal's Life in the Wehrmacht

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 1:18 am
by Paulus II
phylo_roadking wrote:.."WWII ended on the 3rd of September 1939 when Poland nuked Berlin"...
Nah, it says kontrataku plutonium reserves. Counterattack plutonium was a tactical weapon that was still years away from developing into a strategic one that could be used against cities.............as everyone knows. :wink: