My fiancee posed this one to me,so help me look smart. Why aren’t Hitler’s speeches ever translated when televised?
I have seen documentaries with other high-ranking Nazi’s giving speeches and they were translated,but never Hitler’s.
Are they afraid he was so charismatic he might win converts even today? What gives?
I’ve seen some of them translated with subtitles. Specifically I remember the line “Heads will roll” in one of his speeches. Don’t remember the context, though.
I guess the point is that when most historical figures are shown making a speech, it’s typically just a sound bite with some intro saying what the speech was about.
So with Hitler, you pretty much knew. “Germans, good. Lesser races, bad.”
At the Holocaust museum in D.C, they have Hitler speeches on a contuious loop with subtitles at the bottom.
Just our of curiosity, I looked up Hitler on the Grolier’s CD that came with my PC. It has a video clip of one of Hitler’s speeches, but no translation. So, to answer your question in part, yes, they might be afraid he’ll win new converts . . . scarily enough, he has quite a few out there already, but I think that the lack of translation may be simply due to the fact that we find Hitler so abhorrant that we are symbolicly silencing him.
I tend to agree with Lissa – we silence Hitler symbolically, and he tends to look more buffoonish waving his arms around and shouting. In much of those later speeches for large crowds, he tends to just shout things that get lots of applause from his supporters. Not that he wasn’t an excellent orator (likely he wouldn’t have risen to where he did unless he wasn’t). And if you read Mein Kampf, half the stuff makes sense if you don’t mind taking it out of context (BTW I read it for a history class, not for any other reasons). But the rest is pretty frightening.
I think a lot of people could (they did once) be led astray if they only pay half attention (“he has some good things to say, though I’m not so sure about the anti-semitism, it does seem a bit strong …”), and we already know the outcome.
If you really want to see a speech, you might be able to find the Nazi propaganda film Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will) at a video store. It includes speeches by Hitler after Goering warms up the crowd (both were pretty good at it.)
panama jack
“I do not think he is as bad as some people have made him out to be. He has accomplished quite a lot, and without violence.” - Gandhi on Hitler (obviously pre-1939)
Not to start a GD or anything, but don’t you think that repeatedly seeing these huge crowds cheering his every phrase and never seeing a translation creates a sort of “forbidden fruit” aspect. I agree that it may very well be due to a social silencing, but I can’t believe that translation would cause anyone to become a Nazi now. The historical situation is very different.
Hmm, maybe I did mean to start a Great Debate.Oh,well 
BTW, panamajack, Thanks for the tip on Riefenstahl (sp?),
but I really don’t care what he’s saying, just why it’s never translated. Maybe I just answered my own question.
I think NOT showing the translation is more dangerous. It’s hard to pay compliments without getting a knot in your stomach, but he was very charismatic. As someone pointed out, that was probably half the battle for him to win converts. If all you see is the movements, shouting, and cheering, without understanding what is said, a weak or naive person could be fooled.
I need to take a shower now.
My mother had the misfortune of being school girl in Nazi Germany. (Luckily, the family got out in 1938). She remembered the speeches, which they were required to listen to, as being long and tedious. I suspect it was a lot like listening to one of Castro’s endless diatribes–okay if you like that sort of thing, pretty boring if not.
This is gonna sound like a nitpick, but to those in the profession (like yours truly the wannabe) it’s a vital difference.
Translation deals with written works, text and the like. Interpretation deals with spoken word and speech.
Having said that, I think an important reason Hitler’s speeches are not interpreted is that there isn’t an interpreter out there who’d take the job. Having to actually speak some of the foulest ideas on the face of the planet would leave a very bad taste in my mouth, to be certain. I don’t think it has much to do with the potential of his ideas to attract new followers, since more than likely you could find written records of anything the man ever said.
- To render into another language; to express the sense of in the words of another language; to interpret; hence, to explain or recapitulate in other words.
courtesy Websters Online Dictionary
The country most in danger of a ‘forbidden fruit’ reaction is Germany itself. They’ve banned Nazi material since the 1940s(?), and they vehemently prosecute those who break those laws. Yet they still have a problem with it. Where does it come from? The US. Makes you feel safe at night, doesn’t it?
I took German in high school and have kept up with it since then via friends on the internet. I can tell you that you’re not missing much in his speeches. I don’t get every word, but enough to grab the themes: restoring power/preserving the power of the fatherland/ what you should do for your country, blah blah blah (at least those are the kind of clips I see on TV). Quite boring. Honestly, it’s like listening to the president speak - he talks and talks but never says anything. Plus, as stated already in this post, they oftentimes show him in the middle of a speech and throw a voice-over on it. They don’t particularily care what he’s saying at the moment as he is merely background to the narration.
Alternately, one of my history teachers used to talk about the passion with which Hitler spoke. He could be very somber one moment and go absolutely batshit the next. I guess I thought that’s what people who didn’t speak German were drawing from his speeches when they saw one on TV. Of course, now I know they think he looks like a crazy buffoon to them 
!
Citing the dictionary is one thing, ChiefWahoo; involving yourself with professionals in the field, reading the journals, and keeping up with the profession is quite another. I stand by my assertion as to the difference.
I do apologize. I’m a new guy and was a little paranoid about being attacked. I defer to your knowledge in this area.
It’s all good! 
I was stating the definition for the benefit of the general public on this thread; nothing personal was meant by it. hearty handshake
I don’t see the social censorship conspiracy as being realistic, anyone with even the smallest efforts can get tons of material about AH, a bit more difficult in Germany but thats what the web is for. Because the Discovery channel showed a few clips without subtitles isn’t anything to worry about, the narration is a lot more important than what he’s saying anyway, as lots of people have pointed out.
I think its all about televsion production, its a ‘low’ medium, heavily biased, and profit-based. Why would a producer take his or her AH clips and pay to translate them? Screw it, they’re already paying the narrator and writers. Its TV not a scholarly journal, no one cares.
Up front: I don’t speak German, and can’t possibly say whether Hitler’s speeches sounded intelligent, eloquent and persuasive in German.
I HAVE read portions of “Mein Kampf” in English, and have heard some of Hitler’s speeches in ENglish, and I can tell you that (in English, at least) Hitler’s prose was absolutely leaden. Imagine the prose of a guy who isn’t very bright or very well educated, but who thinks he’ll impress his audience by rambling on and on, using big words and long clunky clauses… and you’ll appreciate Hitler’s “skill” as a writer. As for his speeches, they tended to be simplistic, crowd-pleasing drivel (“Long live the fatherland, long live National Socialism…”, yadda yadda yadda).
Now, a translator could make all the difference here. I happen to think James Fenimore Cooper was one of the worst writers of all time, but he’s a GOD in France and Russia, largely because the French and Russian translators were much more talented than Cooper was.
Is it POSSIBLE, then, that Hitler was a deep thinker, a brilliant philospher, and a storring orator? Maybe… but all indications are that he was dumb as dirt, and a crashing bore, besides.