AW: [SEELANGS] Grossman question

[Robert Chandler]

Thanks to the several people who have sent helpful replies.  These lines
from Wiki do seem to fit the context very well:

"A Blockleiter (block leader) was the lowest official of the NSDAP,
responsible for the political supervision of a neighbourhood or city block
and formed the link between the NSDAP and the general population. Also
colloquially known as a Blockwart (block attendant or warden), he was
charged with planning, spreading propaganda and developing an acceptance to
the policies of the NSDAP among the households (typically 40 to 60) in his
area.
It was also the duty of the Blockleiter to spy on the population and report
any anti-Nazi activities to the local office. This was helped by keeping
files on each household (Haushaltskarten). Due to such activities,
Blockwarts were particularly disliked by the general population. Other
duties included allocating beds in homes for visiting NSDAP demonstrators,
the collection of subscriptions and charitable donations especially for
Winterhilfe and organising the clearing of rubble after air-raids. It is
thought that there were nearly half a million Blockleiter.
Today, Blockwart is a colloquial German insult word for an informer."

Katarina Peitlova has established that the title ‘kvartal’nyi nadziratel’’
did exist in Tsarist Russia:
http://www.imha.ru/index.php?newsid=1144523830
So it seems that this phrase was used to translate the German ‘Blockleiter’
or ‘Blockwart’.

I think I might translate it as ‘Block Leader’, which somehow sounds more
Nazi than ‘Block Warden’.  (Though either seems ok.)

Best Wishes,

Robert

> Perhaps this is something similar to the German "Blockwart"?
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockleiter; see the German Wikipedia entry
> for a more detailed explanation: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockleiter),
> although Olga's definition also seems to fit the bill.
> 
> Best
> 
> Matthias Neumann
> 
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] Im Auftrag von Robert Chandler
> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 1. April 2009 23:25
> An: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
> Betreff: [SEELANGS] Grossman question
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> This is from his story ‘Stary Uchitel’’, set in 1942, written in 1943.
> 
> The town, Berdichev or somewhere similar, has recently been occupied by the
> Germans.
> 
>  Так  шли дни. Агроном стал поквартальным
> уполномоченным, Яшка служил в
> 
> полиции, самая красивая девушка в городе
> Маруся Варапонова играла на пианино
> 
> в офицерском кафе и жила с адъютантом ком
> енданта.
> 
> 
> ‘Agronom stal pokvartal’nym upolnomochennym’
> 
> I understand that this agronomist is collaborating with the Germans and has
> been granted some official status, but I’m not clear just what he is doing.
> Is it that he is responsible for passing on the Germans’ instructions to
> the
> inhabitants of a particular part of the town?
> 
> There must be a historically correct term for his position.  Can anyone
> help?
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Robert
> 
> 
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