Poctovnik - A Little Blue Notebook
In the winter of 1944, as the Germans crushed a rebellion in Slovakia, my dad (Andre, 37), my mom (Hetty, 27), and my brother (Peter, 6) became separated from their partisan friends and were forced to flee to the mountains to hide from the Nazi's. They spent the entire winter there and did not come down until the Nazi's surrendered the following Spring. Duriong their stay in the mountains, my mom recorded the events, and her thoughts, in a little blue notebook. I had no recollection of my mom mentioning the notebook, but my dad mentioned it to me one day, insisting that it must be with some the papers I inherited from my mom.
After much searching, I located the little blue notebook! You can imaginemy joy upon discovering the notebook, and my disappointment when I realized it was written in German shorthand! Though thrilled to have found it, I wanted to know what it said. To my great relief, my aunt Joan, my mom's sister, was able to translate the diary into English. For hours she strained to read the time-worn pages, converting the shorthand into German and then into English, all in her head, while Margie wrote down every word and punctuation mark. She had never seen the diary before and it was emotionally difficult for her, knowing these were her sister's words. The following pages are our best effort at translating the little blue notebook!
George Steiner
(The following pages have not been digitized as of yet and are still in a folder)
After much searching, I located the little blue notebook! You can imaginemy joy upon discovering the notebook, and my disappointment when I realized it was written in German shorthand! Though thrilled to have found it, I wanted to know what it said. To my great relief, my aunt Joan, my mom's sister, was able to translate the diary into English. For hours she strained to read the time-worn pages, converting the shorthand into German and then into English, all in her head, while Margie wrote down every word and punctuation mark. She had never seen the diary before and it was emotionally difficult for her, knowing these were her sister's words. The following pages are our best effort at translating the little blue notebook!
George Steiner
(The following pages have not been digitized as of yet and are still in a folder)