The Children's War
Page 174
He turned back to look at her and smiled at the image—not a proper, subservient smile but rather a self-confident, almost happy grin. It was the smile of a man who, though perhaps not at peace, at least knew he was free. “Gnädige Frau?” he asked with good-humored sarcasm.
Elspeth hesitated, her expression intense, as a confession seemed poised on her lips. Then she apparently changed her mind and relaxed. As if only to fill the silence, she said, “Your behavior is totally inappropriate.”
Peter laughed quietly. “Ah, yes, gnä’ Frau, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.” And with that he went to collect his wife and his daughter.
Guide to Approximate Pronunciation
There is a slight rolling of the letter r in both Polish and German. The ch in German has variable (regional) pronunciations all the way from “sh” to “h” to “k.” The accent on Polish words is on the penultimate syllable. The accent on German words varies.
Names
Andrzej: Ahn -jay
Elspeth: Els -pet
Firlej: Feer -lay
Genia: Gen -yah
Gisela: Gee -zel-lah
Irena: Ee- reh -na
Jan: Yahn
Joanna, Johanna— Yo- an -na, Yo-han- na
Julia: Yu -lia
Kasia, Kasiu: Kah -sha,Kah -shu
Król: Kruhl
Marysia: Mah- ree -sha
Pawel: Pah -vel
Piotr: Pyoh -ter
Przewalewski: P’sheh-vah- lev -skee
Richard: Rik -hart
Ryszard: Rih -shart
Stefi: Shteh -fee (German), Steh -fee (Polish)
Tadek, Tadziu: Tah -dek,Tah -ju
Uwe: U -veh
Wanda: Vahn -da
Wojciech: Voy -cheh
Zosia, Zosiu: Zoh -sha,Zoh -shu
Other Words
Armia Krajowa: Ahr -mya Krai-yo -vah, the Home Army; the Polish Underground Resistance against the Nazi German occupation organized into an army of the people
Babcia/Babciu, Busia, Babusia/Babusiu: various endearing words for Grandmother and the vocative forms Drang nach Ordnung: a drive/urge for order; a pun on
Drang nach Osten, the (Germanic) pressure to expand eastward
Du: informal version of “you”
gemischt: (racially) mixed
Hakenkreuz: swastika
kochana, kochany: ko- han -na, ko-han -nee, beloved (f/m)
Kraków, Krakau: Kra -koof,Kra -kow, the city of Cracow (Pol./Ger.)
moja kochana: moy -ah ko-han -na, my beloved (f)
München: the city of Munich
Nichtdeutsch: literally, not German; legal classification given to non-Jewish, non-Germans
nur für Deutsche: literally, only for Germans; used for parks, shops, etc.
Ordnung: order, control, organization
Polska walczy: Pol -skaVahl -chee, Poland fights—motto and insignia of the Home Army
Rassenmischung: race-mixing, of which German/non-German, Aryan/non-Aryan, Aryan/mixed-race were some of the myriad and continuously varying possibilities
Reichsdeutsch: German born within the Reich’s pre-1939 boundaries or direct descendent of same
Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA): the Reich’s security service headquarters
Reinheitsgebot: purity law requiring that beer contain only the four basic ingredients
Sekt: Zekt, sparkling wine
Sie: Zee, formal version of “you”
Spree: Shpray, the river through Berlin
SS Lebensborn: division of the SS which abducted children and gave them to German families for adoption
Szlachta: shlak -ta, the Polish nobility and, during the period of the republic, electors of the king
Übermensch: super-human or superior being
Untermensch: sub-human or inferior being
Verräter: Fehr- ray -ter, traitor
Volksverräter: Folks-fehr- ray -ter, traitor of the Folk; term used against the English as betrayers of their Anglo-Saxon heritage
Volksdeutsch: of the German race; used for those who did not originally hold German citizenship but could claim some blood relation (often quite remote)
Warszawa, Warschau: Vahr- sha -vah,Vahr -shau, the city of Warsaw (Pol./Ger.)
Zwangsarbeiter/in: Tsvangs -ahr-bai-ter/in, forced laborer (m/f)