2006年VOA标准英语-US Releases Documents on Nazi War Criminal

By Michael Bowman
Washington
06 June 2006

The U.S. government has declassified¹ scores of files pertaining² to Nazi³ war criminals and their activities during and after the Second World War.  Historians and others may now review the documents.

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The files total 27,000 pages of material from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that include reports, correspondence, memorandums and other material pertaining to Nazi war criminals and the relationship the U.S. government maintained with Nazis⁴ after the war. The documents are being added to 60,000 pages previously⁵ released since 1998, when Congress passed the Nazi Wartime Disclosure Act.

Ohio Senator Mike DeWine helped champion the legislation.

"Undeniably, the Nazi era is one of the darkest chapters in human existence," said Mr. DeWine.  "And there is always a natural tendency to try to avoid even thinking about it. But I am glad to say that Congress passed the Nazi war crimes law. We passed it because we understood that we owe it to all those who suffered and died in the death camps, and to their families, to bring the whole truth to light."

 
National Archives building in Washington, DC
  
The senator was speaking at the National Archives, where the documents will be held for interested parties to review.

Also speaking was Stanley Moskowitz, the CIA's point man for what is described as the largest declassification⁶ effort in U.S. history.

"We are on course to finish all of the reviews, searches, and declassifications by the end of this calendar year," he said.  "We will have withheld⁷ nothing of substance."

Researchers say the documents contain a huge amount of valuable information.

"These records are of very high quality," said Ohio University historian Norman Goda.  "We are used to seeing intelligence records, if they are released at all, scarred with blacked-out redactions that make them extremely hard to use. For the most part, these records are quite clean, thus making it possible for historians and journalists to use them to much greater effect."

And what do the records show? Elizabeth Holtzman is a member of the interagency working group that has overseen⁸ the declassification project. She says the documents reveal extensive contacts between the United States and Nazis after the Second World War, including several infamous⁹ cases where the Nazis were discovered to have been spying for the former Soviet¹⁰ Union in the early years of the Cold War.

"These materials force us to confront whether, and under what circumstances, it is ever right to deal with mass murderers or their accomplices," she said.  "They force us to confront not only the moral harm, but also the practical harm of using them. Using very bad people can have very bad consequences."

But the records are perhaps most valuable to the victims of Nazi Germany and their families. The Justice Department's director of special investigations¹¹, Eli Rosenbaum, noted¹² that the victims' anguish¹³ did not end with the suicide death of Adolph Hitler.

"The suffering that he [Hitler] and his minions¹⁴ caused has not yet ended, as anyone who has had the unforgettable experience and privilege of meeting Holocaust¹⁵ victims can confirm," he said.  "A deep and unquenched thirst for the full truth about the Nazi nightmare is part of their suffering."

The scope of declassification effort is not limited to Nazis. The interagency working group says it expects to release documents pertaining to Japanese war criminals later in the year.

1 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。

2 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

3 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。

4 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》

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 declassification   

n.不再当机密文件处理，从机密表删除

参考例句：

• Technology of GCD is the combination of grid computing and declassification. 网格密码破解技术 (GCD)是网格计算理论和密码暴力破解需求的结合。 来自互联网
• Its essential is how to determine the reasonable allocating among all parts of the declassification system. 该问题的实质就是如何确定到解系统各部分的合理配置关系。 来自互联网

7 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

9 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。

10 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

14 minions   

n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者

参考例句：

• She delegated the job to one of her minions. 她把这份工作委派给她的一个手下。 来自辞典例句
• I have been a slave to the vicious-those whom I served were his minions. 我当过那帮坏人的奴隶，我伺候的都是他的爪牙。 来自辞典例句

15 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。