Talk:Hellmut Stern

Move to China

Do we know specifically when he fled from Berlin to Harbin, and is there a reference for it? The dates for The Holocaust were 1941-1945 according to its article, so if he left Germany before 1941 then he may not have witnessed and survived the Holocaust. Gerda Arendt, maybe you can help with this? - Indefensible (talk) 02:05, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

Indefensible, this article from the Special Broadcasting Service says 2 weeks after Kristallnacht, which would make it November 1938. There's a picture further on down of him in China in 1939. PotentPotables (talk) 03:15, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

If he moved in 1938/9, does that qualify him to be a Holocaust survivor/witness? As noted above, the Holocaust's article states that it started in 1941, after he was already in China. Kristallnacht's article is also not clear, at one point calling it a "prelude" and at another calling it the "beginning." - Indefensible (talk) 03:23, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

The category page explains how someone qualifies as a Holocaust survivor, and he fits the definition by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (Point 11). PotentPotables (talk) 04:09, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

Do we have a term for his group? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:08, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

The German term is Zeitzeuge, - nothing in my translation tool. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:51, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

I don't believe there is such a term. But "witness to the rise of the Nazis" seems a good description --PaulBetteridge (talk) 08:31, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

My ref gives "contemporary witness". I would say "witness to the times". Jmar67 (talk) 08:35, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

Mine provided the same, but the German term is really used particularly of a witness of that time. I tried now to explain. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:44, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

That's a standard phrase, no conflict. Jmar67 (talk) 10:19, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

His autobiography

Can we better explain the title Saitensprünge – Erinnerungen eines leidenschaftlichen Kosmopoliten - applying Google Translate ("String jumps - memories of a passionate cosmopolitan") leaves me barely better informed. Are there allusions in the German? It seems quite wordy - is that a reflection of him? --PaulBetteridge (talk) 09:19, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

Clever word play: Saiten = strings (violin), Seitensprünge = infidelities. Perhaps "String infidelities...". Jmar67 (talk) 10:25, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

Make it a footnote, English has no room for clever word-plays, it seems. You should explain Sprünge=leaps also. Big leaps China Israel U.S. Berlin. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:59, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

Membership of the board

@PaulBetteridge: Hard to believe that this could be considered correct, but I accept your judgement. Jmar67 (talk) 02:13, 26 March 2020 (UTC)