The exhibition documents interpreters’ activities during the Nuremberg trials of 1945/46 and has been put together by a group of researchers from the Universities of Salamanca and Hildesheim (Germany) with support from the European Academy of Yuste Foundation. The exhibition opens next Monday 3 October at 19.00, at the Asamblea de Extremadura’s Salón de Pasos Perdidos: an opening attended by one of the exhibition’s curators, Jesús Baigorri, member of Alfaqueque research group; and González Vega, spokesperson for Jueces para la Democracia (Judges for Democracy). The latter will host a talk on international criminal proceedings and crimes against humanity and war crimes. 70 years after the trials, this exhibition aims to shed light on the key role played by interpreters.
The sixteen pieces show how thanks to simultaneous interpretation (used on a large scale for the first time in history during the Nuremberg trials) and the work of the interpreters themselves, it was possible for the German, French, English, and Russian speaking judges, prosecution and defence, witnesses and defendants to all communicate smoothly. It made it possible for the public in all countries involved to follow the judicial process. But the fact that the case would not have developed were it not for the efforts of the interpreters is often overlooked. The interpreters were mostly multilingual speakers from various different countries, many of them Jewish people who had been affected directly or indirectly by the Nazi regime. They had to learn ‘on the job’ and adapt themselves to the unfamiliar technical aspects of simultaeneous interpreting. And, significantly, the Nuremberg trials marked the first time women were represented in the interpreting profession.
The exhibition, which will be at the Asamblea for the whole of October, has been shown at various Spanish universities such as Salamanca, Granada, Las Palmas, and Castellón, as well as overseas at Hildesheim in Germany, Doha in Quatar, and also at the European Academy of Yuste Foundation headquarters throughout the summer.
