A Job No One Had Ever Done Before

Holly Mikkelson

The Origins of Simultaneous Interpretation: The Nuremburg Trial

by Francesca Gaiba

Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1998

ISBN 07766-0457-0

Throughout my professional life, I've heard interpreters describe the Nuremburg Trial as the cradle of modern conference interpreting, the first instance of simultaneous interpreting with electronic equipment.  Apart from a few isolated articles in the occasional translator/interpreter publication, very little has been written about these pioneer interpreters and the system that was devised to make a four-language trial possible.  Francesca Gaiba』s work puts an end to this relative obscurity, shedding new light on a historic event that would otherwise have receded into the darkness of the forgotten past as the key players died, one by one.

The book begins with a telling quote from one of the most infamous participants in the trial, Reich Marshal Herrmann Göring: "Of course I want counsel.  But it is even more important to have a good interpreter."  The wily Göring was one of the few people who really understood the nature of interpreting and the ways in which it could be exploited to distort the process.  Throughout the book, the reader is reminded of the peculiar role played by interpreters, who made it possible for the court to hear testimony about the horrifying deeds that had been committed by the Nazis, and yet also ensured the defendants of a fair trial.  In addition to combing the official records and transcripts of the trial and numerous other documents, Gaiba interviewed and corresponded with dozens of individuals who served as translators and interpreters during the lengthy trial, many of whom were young and inexperienced at the time and are now retired.  Their recollections reveal the odd relationship they developed with some of the defendants, well-educated polyglots who appreciated the difficulty of the interpreters' work, and of course wanted the interpretation to work to their benefit. One defendant even made a list of "Suggestions for Speakers" to facilitate the interpreters' task.

Chapter 1 discusses the preparations leading up to the trial, and the difficulties of staging a major international event amid the rubble of war-torn Germany.  Gaiba describes the recruitment, screening, and training of interpreters for a job no one had ever done before, and the development of the equipment by IBM.  I was particularly interested in reading about the recruitment and screening, which was made even more complicated by the fact that the war was just coming to an end and the United States was the only country with an intact communications infrastructure.  As a result, most of the interpreters were contributed (and paid) by the U.S., although several came from the new school of interpreting in Geneva.  In the initial screening, candidates were asked to name 10 trees, 10 automobile parts, 10 agricultural implements, etc., in two languages (how many of us would pass that test?).  Many city slickers who were otherwise very fluent couldn't name a single farm implement in any language.

Those who demonstrated the prerequisite language skills were sent to Nuremburg, where the new equipment was being installed, so that they could be tested in simultaneous interpretation.  Mock trials were staged, with everyone chipping in to play different roles, and many candidates--including some Geneva graduates, who had been trained only in consecutive interpreting--were eliminated because they couldn't handle the stress of simultaneous interpreting.  Their talents were not wasted, however, as they were assigned to the translation office or other related duties.  There was also a high turnover during the trial, which lasted from November 1945 to August 1946.  New recruits were constantly being sought to replace interpreters who were burned out or had to return to their regular jobs.

Chapter 2 describes the interpreting system in detail, including the equipment itself, the team interpreting schedule, and the monitoring function.  Chapter 3 looks at the reliability of the interpreting and its impact on the proceedings.  Particularly interesting is the section on language issues, which describes the strategies employed by interpreters to cope with their languages' different syntax (especially the notorious German compound sentences), ambiguities, speed, and cultural differences.  Many of the participants were awed by the phenomenon of simultaneous interpretation, which received positive press coverage at the time, although there were also critics.  Most prominent among these were the defense attorneys and judges (who else?); one attorney even went so far as to claim that his client had been convicted "purely as a result of a mistranslation of one document."  Gaiba points out that many of the critics were not comparing simultaneous interpretation with consecutive, but an interpreted trial with a non-interpreted, monolingual trial, which was not an option.

Chapter 4 details the interpreters' life outside the courtroom, which was rather bleak in the aftermath of war.  It will come as no surprise to readers that politics entered into every aspect of the trial, including interpreters' pay.  Basically, there were no standards for pay.  France, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, which had initially agreed to supply equal numbers of interpreters, had trouble recruiting them and could not pay those they recruited.  Interpreters hired by the U.S., many of whom already worked for government agencies, were paid at whatever their normal salary was from their previous job, which led to tremendous disparity.  Americans were paid in "occupation dollars," which entitled them to buy American goods that were not available to others, but it was difficult for the interpreters to enjoy their wealth when surrounded by deprivation and suffering.  The interpreters tried to forget the horrors of the trial during their off-hours, and many established lifelong friendships.  The Russian interpreters, however, were under constant surveillance and were discouraged from fraternizing with their colleagues.

Chapter 5 focuses on the individual interpreters, presenting profiles of those Gaiba was able to contact or read about.  They came from all walks of life, and all were profoundly affected by their experience in Nuremburg.  Many of them later became prominent interpreters in international organizations and teachers at interpreting schools.  In the epilogue, Gaiba describes the skepticism with which "old guard" interpreters greeted the advent of simultaneous interpretation in the United Nations and other organizations.  They claimed that interpreting under these conditions was impossible.  Their fierce resistance was finally overcome, and simultaneous interpretation has become the norm in international meetings.

Gaiba concludes her remarkable history with a statement that is worth quoting here: "Undoubtedly, despite the unpleasantness of the Nuremburg situation, the achievements of the Nuremburg interpreters are impressive: they made possible one of the most crucial trials of the century, contributing to its conduct and promptness; they created a new profession, and went on to introduce it and teach it around the world, thus facilitating the creation of international organizations and the understanding among delegates of all countries."

I highly recommend this fascinating book by an interpreter about interpreters as a must-read for anyone interested in the court interpreting profession.

The author is Director of the International Interpretation Resource Center at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She is a state and federally certified court interpreter, and currently a member of NAJIT's Board of Directors.  © 2001 by NAJIT