VOA常速英语2017--国际大屠杀75周年

Seventy-five years ago, on January 20th, 1942, senior officials of the German Nazi¹ Party met in a villa² in the Wannsee district of Berlin to discuss what they called the Final Solution to the Jewish question—the deportation³ and extermination⁴ of the Jewish population of German-occupied Europe.

75年前的1942年1月20日，德国纳粹党的数名高级官员在柏林万塞区的一间别墅内会面，商讨他们对犹太人问题所谓的“最终解决方案”——在德国占领的欧洲领土上驱逐并灭绝犹太人。

Subsequently, millions of Jews, along with political opponents and activists⁵, Communists, intellectuals, Romani people, gays and lesbians and mentally handicapped people residing in Germany or German-occupied territories, were arrested and transported to concentration camps. Most of them ended up in extermination camps, built specifically to kill millions of people by execution and extreme work under starvation conditions. In the three years between the Wannsee Conference and the end of the Second World War, six million Jews, as well as four to five million non-Jewish prisoners, perished in these death camps.

随后，无数犹太人以及德国和德国占领区域的政敌、活动家、共产党、知识分子、罗姆人、同性恋者、智力障碍者遭到逮捕，并被送到了集中营里。最终，大多数人死在了集中营里，集中营是专门用来处决或在饥饿情况下通过极端劳动的方式来杀害无数囚犯的。在万塞会议至二战结束期间的3年里，共有600万犹太人以及400多万非犹太囚犯在集中营中死去。

Today, the genocide that was committed by the Nazi regime against the European Jews is known as the Holocaust⁶.

今天，那场纳粹政权对欧洲犹太人所犯下的种族灭绝行为亦称种族大屠杀(Holocaust)。

The Auschwitz-Birkenau facility in Poland, the largest and deadliest of the extermination camps, was liberated⁷ by the Russian Army on January 27th, 1945. The camp was nearly empty that day, as those prisoners who were still capable of walking were herded⁸ by their guards away from the invading armies. The liberators were met by some seven thousand skeletal prisoners who were too weak to be evacuated⁹ by their captors, and mountains of dead bodies.

波兰的奥斯威辛集中营(Auschwitz-Birkenau)是最大、最危险的集中营，1945年1月27日，该集中营得到了俄国军方的解放。解放的那天，这个集中营几乎空无一“人”，因为尚且还能走路的囚犯都被集中营的守卫们挟持带走，以躲避进军的军队。解放军队到达时，除了近7000名骨瘦如柴的囚犯由于身体太过虚弱而无法被守卫带走之外，还有满目的尸横遍野。

The holocaust was a crime against humanity so horrendous¹⁰ that the community of nations vowed¹¹ to never forget, lest such atrocity¹² happen again.

这场大屠杀是反人道主义的罪行，其行为之恶劣让很多国家郑重宣告永不忘记，为的是这种暴行不再重演。

It's been 75 years, nearly three generations since the end of the Second World War, and few are left of those who survived the Holocaust, and those who broke open the death-camp doors and freed the condemned¹³. It is up to us now to never again allow hatred¹⁴ and intolerance to drown out our humanity and respect for the lives of others.

75年了，二战结束后已过去了近3代人，而那场种族大屠杀的幸存者、曾经打开集中营大门并解放了集中营囚犯的当事人也所剩无几。我们现在要做的是，永不再让仇恨和偏狭湮没我们的人性和对其他生命的尊重。

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 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

3 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

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 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

8 herded   

群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动

参考例句：

• He herded up his goats. 他把山羊赶拢在一起。
• They herded into the corner. 他们往角落里聚集。

9 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

10 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

11 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

12 atrocity   

n.残暴，暴行

参考例句：

• These people are guilty of acts of great atrocity.这些人犯有令人发指的暴行。
• I am shocked by the atrocity of this man's crimes.这个人行凶手段残忍狠毒使我震惊。

13 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

14 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。