Appraisal from SS officer file

[Melnyk]

Good morning

after the excellent response to my last post, I thought I'd try another. This time it is not technical German terms in a military context but rather a personal appraisal taken from an SS officers file.

The wording is:

Er ist korperlich von untersetzter Gestalt, anscheinend widerstandsfahig und von gutter Ausdauer.
Geistig steht er Uber dem Durchschnitt und besitzt scheinbar eine recht brauchbare Auffassungsgabe.
Charakterlich macht er den Eindruck eines offenen ehrlichen Menschen, der von einem hohen Gerechtigkeitsgefuhl getragen wird. Militarisch zeigte er in der kurzen Zeit seiner Zugehorigkeit zum Regiment genugend Kenntnisse taktischer und technischer art, die fur seine Dienststellung gefordert werden mussen.
Sportlich durfte er gutter Durchschnitt sein.

which I have translated rather clumsily as;

Physically he is of stocky build, tough and has good stamina.
Mentally he stands above average and is apparently perceptive.
His character gives the impression of an open and honest man, with a high sense of justice. Militarily in the short period of his membership in the regiment, he [has] shown sufficient tactical and technical knowledge which is essential for his service.
[His] Athleticism means [he is] a good average in sports.

any suggested improvements welcomed

best wishes

Mike Melnyk

[history1]

[...]
Er ist korperlich von untersetzter Gestalt, anscheinend widerstandsfahig und von gutter Ausdauer.
Geistig steht er Uber dem Durchschnitt und besitzt scheinbar eine recht brauchbare Auffassungsgabe.
Charakterlich macht er den Eindruck eines offenen ehrlichen Menschen, der von einem hohen Gerechtigkeitsgefuhl getragen wird. Militarisch zeigte er in der kurzen Zeit seiner Zugehorigkeit zum Regiment genugend Kenntnisse taktischer und technischer art, die fur seine Dienststellung gefordert werden mussen.
Sportlich durfte er gutter Durchschnitt sein.
[...]
any suggested improvements welcomed
best wishes
Mike Melnyk

Hi Mike,

it´s easier to translate correct spelled/transcribed text:

Er ist körperlich von untersetzter Gestalt, anscheinend widerstandsfähig und von guter Ausdauer.
Geistig steht er über dem Durchschnitt und besitzt scheinbar eine recht brauchbare Auffassungsgabe.
Charakterlich macht er den Eindruck eines offenen ehrlichen Menschen, der von einem hohen Gerechtigkeitsgefühl getragen wird. Militarisch zeigte er in der kurzen Zeit seiner Zugehörigkeit zum Regiment genügend Kenntnisse taktischer und technischer Art [,] die für seine Dienststellung gefordert werden mussen.
Sportlich dürfte er guter Durchschnitt sein.

" .. besitzt scheinbar eine recht brauchbare Auffassungsgabe." I personally would translate with "apparently has quite a useful perception."
And "Sportlich dürfte er guter Durchschnitt sein." with "In terms of sport, he should be a good average."

[Melnyk]

hi

once again very appreciative of your input. Of course you are correct about correct spelling. I struggle with "apparently has quite a useful perception".

Somebody can 'appear to be quite perceptive', but this kind of terminology seems out of place in an appraisal for an SS officer.
You can be perceptive, or you can be unobservant, but I cant see why you would refer to someone as "apparently perceptive". it just sounds very odd to me. I do like "in terms of sport he should be good average". that works very well as its an estimate based on his physical appearance.

Mike

[history1]

Okay Mike, English isn´t my mother tongue. What about "has apparently quite a useful apprehension" then?
Does this sound better? Choose whatever you like from this link, maybe "keen apprehension"?
https://dict.leo.org/englisch-deutsch/auffassungsgabe

Roman

[wwilson]

Somebody can 'appear to be quite perceptive', but this kind of terminology seems out of place in an appraisal for an SS officer.
You can be perceptive, or you can be unobservant, but I cant see why you would refer to someone as "apparently perceptive". it just sounds very odd to me. I do like "in terms of sport he should be good average". that works very well as its an estimate based on his physical appearance.

Mike, a comment in passing.

I found the wording of this appraisal a bit ... different. Were this used today in the Anglophone world, it would sound somewhat like "damning by faint praise". I would not assume that in this case, since the appraisal is from a different era and a different culture. I wonder if "good average" might translate in English as "above average but not exceptional".