VOA常速英语2007-Rare Photographs Show Holocaust Perpetrators

By Malcolm Brown
Washington
09 October 2007
 
A collection of newly available photographs is shedding fresh light on those who carried out the Nazi¹ holocaust². The public now has the chance to see the contents of an album, thought to have belonged to an SS officer at the infamous³ Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, where more than a million people are estimated to have died. The pictures are now in the possession of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., from where Malcolm Brown reports.

Found in an abandoned German apartment building just after World War Two, the photographs are now in the care of conservators.

The museum received the album early this year from an elderly American war veteran approaching the end of his life.

The 116 pictures, taken in 1944, show SS guards and Nazi officials relaxing, even as the extermination⁴ of Jews was in its closing phase.

Rebecca Erbelding is the archivist who received the album. "It's so easy to group Nazis⁵ as red-eyed, pointy-toothed, evil monsters. The point isn't that these were evil people doing normal things. In the album, it shows that they were normal people, who developed the capacity to perpetrate enormous evil."

The museum says the photos provide a unique insight into those who ran the Nazis's deadliest killing⁶ center. There are no images of the Holocaust's victims. Instead, in chilling contrast, the perpetrators are shown -- often appearing all too ordinary.

There are pictures of particularly infamous figures, including camp doctor Josef Mengele, also known as the Angel of Death.

The album's presumed owner -- SS officer Karl Hoecker -- is in many of the pictures. Some show him with his dog, joking with female SS auxiliaries⁷ and even decorating a Christmas tree.

The important find has prompted researchers here to make a public appeal for similar materials, before they are lost forever. Mmuseum archivist Rebecca Erbelding says, "Museums, especially ours, are still collecting. We're still learning. We're still finding new things. We're still adding to the history that we know of. We're really encouraging people to think about what they may have in their attic⁸ and to contact us, or to contact another museum."

The man who donated this album -- a former U.S. military intelligence officer -- died earlier this year, after requesting that the museum not reveal his identity.

1 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

2 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

3 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

4 extermination   

n.消灭，根绝

参考例句：

• All door and window is sealed for the extermination of mosquito. 为了消灭蚊子，所有的门窗都被封闭起来了。 来自辞典例句
• In doing so they were saved from extermination. 这样一来却使它们免于绝灭。 来自辞典例句

5 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 auxiliaries   

n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 )；辅助工，辅助人员

参考例句：

• These auxiliaries have made our work much easier. 有了这些辅助人员，我们的工作才顺利多了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In English the future tense is often rendered by means of auxiliaries. 在英语中，将来时常用助动词来表现。 来自辞典例句

8 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？