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13:58 Aug 5, 2010
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French to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - History / World War II Liberation Poem
French term or phrase:Coyes modorant
Poem about the liberation of Buchenwald. Written by an anonymous author.
"Onze avril zéro heure, l'attente devient sérieuse
Couchés sur les paillasses des **Coyes modorant**
La veille se poursuit. Si l'issue est heureuse
Tant mieux, mais il vaut mieux mourir en combattant..."
In a old document, the term "coye" is found, followed by the term (citrouille) as explanation. The latter term is a slang expression for "head." Makes sense because personal hygiene was so poor, if not non-existent in the camps.
"des corps"? I chose this because the combination of letters "ye" and "rp" could look similar within a word if they were scrawled on a piece of paper and then transcribed by someone with a limited knowledge of French, but I'm really not sure.
on Google, learning that in the final days of Buchenwald "Communist inmates stormed the watchtowers and killed the remaining guards". Presumably, then, the poem is about this uprising which took place when they knew Allied forces were near (how they managed to conceal a radio, a submachine gun, and 91 rifles from the guards prior to that point is an amazing mystery!).
The capital letter could be explained if we take it to be poorly scanned G, giving "Couchés sur les paillasses des Goys mal dormants", maybe? Far be it from me to suggest that to Jews Goys smell bad!
Of course both my proposals assume that this view of the liberation of Buchenwald is from the inside, not the impression of the soldiers approaching the camp, expecting to have to combat the enemy. More info?
Anything is possible once letters have started going missing and getting mysteriously capitalized ...
How it was at Buchenwald :
Le long des murs de la baraque sont aménagés, en quatre étages superposés, des bat flancs. Ces cages à lapins sont, chacune, garnies de trois paillasses en ficelles de papier bourrées de COPEAUX DE BOIS en guise de matelas. http://chouannerie.chez-alice.fr/Henri_Mainguy/Textes/B03_02...
Explanation: coyes is a version of couilles, which can mean guts generally.
Example sentence(s):
La France est un pays de connards, d’enflures, d’ordures purulentes, de peigne-culs immondes, de viles saloperies bigotes et pétochardes, de couilles flasques et malodorantes, de pétasses putrides, de fientes de flics, de dénonciateurs minables, de
Explanation: I.Foul-smelling balls. I found this reference in: Lexique Gynécologie Obstétrique.
I prefer "couilles" to keep with the slang "coyes".
II. There "might" be a case for "modorant" as "bluish", but there is a certain discoloration present with this condition.
"Modorant" would have to be truncated, or badly transcribed from "malodorant" as James Robert mentioned. So "Bluish foul-smelling balls would seem to fit.
I leave the "bluish" part up to you.
But it is poetry, n'est-ce pas?
Example sentence(s):
Quand il y a une infection elles deviennent anormalement abondantes, colorées ou malodorantes. Des démangeaisons (un prurit) peuvent alors être présentes. ...
Blue balls is the slang term for a congested prostate or vasocongestion, the condition of temporary fluid congestion in the testicles and prostate region ...
Reference information: I thought also of Goy(es) malodorant.
In Buchenwald they also used Hammocks.
coy Masculino - Sustantivo - Singular
1. hammock; Sinónimos: hamaca, hamaca paraguaya, chinchorro, paraguaya; Hamaca hecha con un trozo de lona, solía utilizarse en los barcos.
There exist a blue tint called modorant blue. PB61 Modorant Blue R. Sulfonated derivative of Triphenylmethane;
CAS 1324-76-1 Deep Reddish Blue. http://www.artiscreation.com/blue.html
Or it could be that the poem was written by a man who spoke "occitan" and wanted to described death setting in on men's "private parts" turning blue. This might be farfetched, but in keeping in line with morbid poetry. Here is the reference:Les poyes do curé ponèt. ("on va fini pa dire les coyes do curé").wikipedia http://wa.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motî:coye
In French, we have derivatives: Couillon: Coward; Couillonade: Plaisanterie that come from popular latin "Colea", from latin "Coleus" meaning "sac de cuir". To this day the expression in Brazilian Portuguese the vulgar "Saco".
I have exhausted the possibilities! I hope it helps.
Example sentence(s):
Fabricavam objectos como a rede, camas de lenha (ou coyes, como as chamavam).
instead of sleeping in beds prisoners slept in hammocks, three high. Wild Bill Guarnere.Community > Holocaust Camps.
The translation workplace 
