2006年VOA标准英语-Agreement Reached to Open Nazi Archives

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
17 May 2006
 
 
An Israeli man passes a large picture showing the Nazi¹ death camp of Birkenau in Poland at the Yad Vashem Holocaust² Memorial in Jerusalem (file photo) 
  
An 11-nation commission has decided³ to open a vast archive documenting Nazi atrocities⁴ during World War II. It could help bring closure to the families of millions of victims.

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The German archive contains 50 million documents that will be opened to historians and Holocaust scholars for the first time.

The files hold virtually everything the Nazis⁵ recorded in the death camps, where six million Jews were killed. They contain 17 million names of Jews, homosexuals, the mentally ill, gypsies and other people who were sent to the camps and forced into slave labor⁶.

The breakthrough came last month when Germany agreed to soften⁷ its privacy protection rules, in response to pressure from Jewish groups.

The opening of the archive was welcomed by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. Nazi hunter Ephraim Zuroff, who heads the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Israel, says it is an important step.

"This is a veritable gold mine of information," he said.

Including what happened to hundreds of thousands of Jews who disappeared without a trace.

"There is a lot of information about individuals, their fate," said Zuroff. "People who were incarcerated⁸ in concentration camps, what happened to them, how they were killed. There is information on the post-war escape of Nazi war criminals."

Zuroff told VOA that it is especially significant to relatives of the victims.

"Listen, if you are looking for a file on your grandfather, and until now it's not been accessible, then I would say that it is pretty important for you, and you would not be the only person in that situation," he said. "I think there is a desire by many people to learn about the fate of their loved ones during the Holocaust."

Zuroff says the archives should have been opened decades ago, but it is better late than never.

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 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

8 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白