Act 1: the phone call
The phone rings after office hours at Apostroph Luzern. Petra Waldispühl happens to be there; she takes the call. It’s “NZZ am Sonntag” editor-in-chief Jonas Projer. Are we able to translate something from German to English? We’d receive the text on Friday evening and have to deliver it by Saturday evening.
Act 2: the doctor and the Führer
The job involves translating a research article by Sacha Batthyany about Carl Otto von Eicken, the doctor who removed a polyp from Hitler’s vocal cords. Had the ENT specialist’s scalpel “slipped” a few millimetres during the surgical intervention at the Reich Chancellery on 23 May 1935, world history would have taken a different turn. Supplementing the article is an interview with the historian Richard J. Evans.
So, two demanding texts totalling just over 13 standard pages.
Act 3: deadlines
Friday morning finds Luzia Barmettler checking the feasibility and confirming to Jonas Projer at 10 am that Apostroph is able to deliver the translation by the specified deadline. The interview text arrives at midday; we forward it to our translator Katherine, who specialises in historical material. Later that day, just after 6 pm, we receive the main article together with amendments to the interview text. Katherine immediately launches herself into the German Führer’s vocal problem to ensure that Apostroph can deliver the translations by 6 pm on Saturday.
Act 4: happy ending
Half-an-hour later, Jonas Projer confirms safe receipt of the texts with thanks,
and on Sunday, excerpts from the “NZZ am Sonntag” article appear in “Der Spiegel”, while “The Guardian” prints excerpts of Apostroph’s English translation.
In the meantime, the story has also been picked up, via Reuters, by agencies in China, Morocco, Spain and Canada.
The “NZZ am Sonntag’s” article and interview are available here in English.
