LL-L "History" 2005.01.26 (02) [E]

Wed Jan 26 23:39:38 UTC 2005

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L O W L A N D S - L * 26.JAN.2005 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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Dear Lowlanders,

As many of you probably know, we just had the 60th anniversary of the
liberation of the Oświęcim/Auschwitz (Poland) concentration camp and also
the 60th anniversary of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff (designed to
carry 1,865 passengers) carrying 10,582 refugees, soldiers, sailors, and
crew—including scores of sick and injured, as well as women, children and
the elderly, also many Mennonites and other Low Saxon (Low German) speakers
from the Gdańsk/Danzig area.

This week I have been doing some online research for a friend of mine who
lives in New York and at his advanced age refuses to get into computing. He
told me he had read that the Yadvashem (יד ושם) Memorial in Jerusalem has
recently put its archived records of reported Holocaust victims online
(www.yadvashem.org). He took me up on my offer to help him with the
computing side of things. I have looked up all the records of his murdered
relatives. (He himself had escaped that fate by having been sent to England
with a _Kindertransport_.) I went farther by looking up people about whom I
had heard and those I assumed to have been victims. I even “bumped into” old
Israeli friends as those that reported victims. I found the searchable site
remarkably well done and recommend it to anyone who is interested or needs
to do this kind of very depressing research.

Why I am mentioning this is that, among others, I looked up Agathe Lasch
(1879-1942), after whom a lecture theater was named at Hamburg University as
late as in 1999. She was a major researcher of “Low German,” namely of the
Saxon language, and we can thank her for numerous works especially on Middle
Saxon (“Middle Low German”). Born and raised in Berlin, she wrote her thesis
on the pre-16th-century (pre-Germanization) written language of Berlin. She
was employed at Bryn Mawr Women’s University in Pennsylvania where in 1910
she wrote her famous Middle Saxon grammar (_Mittelniederdeutsche
Grammatik_). She returned to Germany to work as an assistant at the Deutsche
Seminar des Allgemeinen Vorlesungswesen in Hamburg, where in 1923 she
attained the status of a full professor (at the time anything but a piece of
cake for a woman) and in 1926 was given a chair in Low German. In 1934 she
was demoted and let go on account of being Jewish. She and her sisters are
said to have been deported to the concentration camp at
Terezin/Theresienstadt, Czech Republic. However, apparently the train never
arrived. There is no actual proof of their death, but they seem to be
assumed murdered at a camp or en route.

I looked her up under her known name, and all I could find was a cursory
mention. It seems to be the same person, since the dates match. Also, I seem
to have found what appear some of her relatives, of which Elsbeth and
Margarethe seem to be her sisters.

I am sure that many things could be said about each victim -- professorship
being nothing more remarkable --- even about the very little ones that had
hardly begun to live. However, as a proponent of Low Saxon it saddens me
greatly to see that somehow the dots between Agathe Lash the researcher and
teacher and Agathe Lasch the victim have not been connected in the archive.
I wonder if we can do anything about it, and, if so, what. There are forms
for reporting information
(http://www1.yadvashem.org/download/index_download.html) but I doubt they
may be used for such a purpose. I am copying Yadvashem
(general.information at yadvashem.org.il) on this message in hopes of receiving
pertinent information. In the meantime, perhaps any of you has any idea of
what can be done, if anything.

Thank you.
Reinhard/Ron

***

A poem I wrote long ago and dedicated to Agathe Lasch:

   IN DEY STIL

   af
   un tou
   in dey stil
   tipt sey my an
   joun lesten sekunden
   er ys-kolde kral
   as dat unvoerstelbare
   jachens wishayt was
   as jou joun toukumst an-gluup
   uut verveyrde ougen-hoylen
   in bleyke, gift-sugene truynen
   as allens klip un klaar daar stünd
   in verrenkte leden er krikkel-krakkel
   mang d'n himp-hamp up dey kulen er boddens
   dey ougen-blik twüschen begrypen un niks
   as dat schrikwyr-sümmen tou 'n truurwys' woyrd'
   tou 'n tranen-lose klaag'
   oever joun minschen-woyrd'
   joun minschen-glouv'
   un joun minschen-droym
   er verdarven
   un oever al dey leddigen woyrd'
   tou joun gedinken

***

   IN DE STILL

   af
   un to
   in de still
   tippt se mi an
   joon lesten sekunnen
   ehr ieskole krall
   as dat unvörstellbare
   jachens wißheit was
   as jo jon tokumst angluup
   ut verfehrte ogenhölen
   in bleke, giftsugene trünen
   as allens klipp un klaar daarstünn
   in verrenkte leden ehr krickel-krackel
   mank'n himp-hamp up de kulen ehr boddens
   de ogenblick twüschen begriepen un nix
   as dat schrickwiersümmen to'n truurwies wöör
   to'n tranenlose klaag
   över joon minschenwöörd
   joon minschengloov
   un joon minschendrööm
   ehr verdarven
   un över all de leddigen wöör
   to joon gedinken

***
English by me:

   IN THE STILL

   now
   and then
   in the still
   it touches me
   the icy-cold claw
   of your last seconds
   when the unimaginable
   suddenly was certainty
   when your future stared at you
   out of terrified eye sockets
   in pallid, poison-sucking grimaces
   when everything was clearly written there
   in the scribbly scrawl of contorted limbs
   amid the jumble on the bottoms of the pits
   the moment between realization and nothingness
   when the hum of electric fences turned into a lament
   into a tearless wail
   over the destruction
   of your human dignity
   your human beliefs
   and your human dreams
   and over all the empty words
   in your memory

***
German by me:

   IN DER STILLE

   dann
   und wann
   in der stille
   berührt sie mich
   die eiskalte kralle
   eurer letzten sekunden
   als das unvorstellbare
   plötzlich gewissheit war
   als euch eure zukunft anglotzte
   aus erschrockenen augenhöhlen
   in bleichen, giftsaugenden fratzen
   als alles klipp und klar da stand
   im kritzelkratzel verrenkter glieder
   inmitten des wirrwarrs auf den böden der gruben
   der augenblick zwischen begreifen und nichts
   als das elektrozaunsummen zur trauerweise wurde
   zur tränenlosen klage
   über das verderben
   eurer menschenwürde
   eures menschenglaubens
   und eurer menschenträume
   und über all die leeren worte
   zu eurem gedenken

***

Dutch by Henk Wolf:

   IN DE STLTE

   af
   en toe
   in de stilte
   raakt hij me aan
   de ijskoude klauw
   van jullie laatste seconden
   toen het onbegrijpelijke
   plotseling zekerheid was
   toen jullie toekomst je aangluurde
   uit geschrokken oogkassen
   in bleke gifzuigende grimassen
   toen alles er klip en klaar geschreven stond
   in de hanepoten van verwrongen ledematen
   in de warboel op de bodems van de kuilen
   het ogenblik tussen begrijpen en niets
   toen het snorren van het schrikdraad een klaaglied werd
   een tranenloze weeklacht
   over het verderf
   van jullie mensenwaardigheid
   jullie mensengeloof
   en jullie mensendromen
   en over al de lege woorden
   ter jullie nagedachtenis

***

Afrikaans by Elsie Zinsser:

   IN DIE STLTE

   af
   en toe
   in die stilte
   raak dit aan my
   jul laaste sekondes
   se yskoue klou
   toe die ondenkbare
   skielik werklikheid was
   toe jul toekoms jul aangluur
   uit verskrikte oogholtes
   van bleek gifsuigende grimasse
   toe alles kant en klaar geskrewe was
   op verrekte ledemate uitgegriffel
   en deurmekaar in bodemdieptes opeengehoop
   die oomblik tussen begryp en niks
   toe die sperdraad se zoem 'n treurwysie word
   'n traanlose geween
   vir die vernietiging
   van jul menswaardigheid
   jul mense-geloof
   en jul mense-droom
   en oor al die leë woorde heen
   tot jul nagedagtenis

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