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14 The Linguist Vol/54 No/5 2015 www.ciol.org.uk FEATURES well as from numerous secondary sources. In the course of the project, I learned which authors and works are respected by English- speaking medieval historians and scholars. If a cited German work exists in English translation, or if the citation is from a German translation of an English original, the research is easier. Even so, finding the precise details, down to page numbers, for a proper citation and bibliography is time-consuming. And every new project means becoming familiar with a new subject area. For the exhibition 'Between the Lines? The Press as an Instrument of Nazi Power' in the Topography of Terror Documentation Center in Berlin, even the translation of a Nazi newspaper excerpt required English source research, as it quoted (in German translation) a passage originally written in English: A Stürmer display case with a quotation by Jewish-English politician Benjamin Disraeli: 'Die Rassenfrage ist der Schlüssel zur Weltgeschichte' (Original: 'the principle of race … is the key of history.') The ellipsis was necessary since the actual wording of the original was: "No man will treat with indifference the principle of race. It is the key of history," which I found in Disraeli's novel Endymion (1880; London, Wildside, 2006, 180). While doing internet research, I have always discovered at least a few errors in the text I am translating, whether a name is misspelled or source data is cited inaccurately. I often also find content errors. While fact-checking is not explicitly the responsibility of the translator, I think it comes part and parcel with immersing myself in the subject matter. Authors and publishers are always appreciative when mistakes are discovered, so my resulting questions generally increase their trust in and respect for my work. DIFFERENT AUDIENCES Aside from these detailed research aspects, the translation of history texts also demands an understanding of different sensibilities and knowledge of history for different audiences. Regarding the Nazi regime, for example, German people's sense of moral and historical responsibility has affected the way they write about the period. To emphasise their dissociation from Nazi vocabulary, German authors usually put words such as 'Aryan' and 'Third Reich' in quotation marks, whereas English texts tend not to, using the terms as they were used at the time and not sensing a need to create an explicit distance. Similarly, Kristallnacht, or a direct translation as Crystal Night or Night of Broken Glass, might be retained in English texts, since it is recognisable as a historical term, whereas German scholars today tend to avoid such euphemisms, referring instead to the November Pogrom of 1938. Based on the context of the source text, a translator must decide which strategy, or combination, is best. Since the background historical knowledge of English speakers often differs from that of Germans, especially regarding German history, an explanation is frequently necessary in order to convey the same information as the German original, since assumed or SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY: A Jewish-owned printing business in Berlin, attacked during Kristallnacht, known in German as 'the November Pogrom of 1938' 'Crystal Night' might be retained in English texts whereas German scholars tend to avoid such euphemisms © SHUTTERSTOCK