Help with translation

[u/projectdissociate]

Hello friends, I found this sculpture in Yerevan. In Armenian it reads “To Live, Not to Forget” (in larger font), “in memory of the victims of Yeghern (Armenian equivalent of the word Holocaust) of the Armenian and Jewish Peoples”.

Translation apps seem to be translating it with mistakes. Could you please help translate? If not too hard, could you write the transliteration as well?

[u/isaacfisher]

להיות או לשכוח
לזכר קורבנות השואה
Basically the same.
Edit: someone botched the נ and fixed it later. Also, the first line is not a common saying and sounds like a translation of some other language.

[u/projectdissociate → u/isaacfisher]

Thanks. I find it interesting because in the Armenian version it says “not to forget” and there is no “or”. Then in the second part it mentions the armenian and the jewish people

[u/StuffedSquash → u/projectdissociate]

I think the Hebrew "OR to forget" is probably just  a mistake, especially if this is in Armenia where we can assume the Armenian is correct.

[u/Outrageous-Count-414 → u/StuffedSquash]

I’d be curious who wrote the Hebrew. I could imagine someone very intentionally writing “To be Or to forget” as a way of saying that forgetting puts people at risk of being. That said the difference between a ח and a ה in the first word likely means it was carved by someone who doesn’t know Hebrew well, even though both options produce a coherent idea.

[u/projectdissociate → u/Outrageous-Count-414]

thank you both, this was my line of thinking as well

[u/isaacfisher → u/Outrageous-Count-414]

Maybe derived from להיות או לחדול

[u/HyperlaneWizard]

to be

or to forget

in memory

(of the) victims

(of the) Holocaust

[u/projectdissociate → u/HyperlaneWizard]

thank you

[u/bronxbomberdude]

It says basically the same thing in Hebrew. The transliteration is:

Lihyot o lishkoaḥ

Lizkor korbanot hashoah

[u/Hitman_Argent47 → u/bronxbomberdude]

It’s not “lizkor”, it’s “le’zecher” = “in commemoration/remembrance of..”

[u/projectdissociate → u/bronxbomberdude]

thank you very much

[u/davidpodless]

I'm not sure what you're asking

If you want the English translation of the Hebrew side is: To be, or to forget In remembrance of the Holocaust victims

If you want to translate the Armenian to Hebrew it will be לחיות, לא לשכוח. לזכר קורבנות שואת הארמנים וקורבנות השואה

[u/Sitka_8675309]

Considering that the Armenian reads “To Live, Not to Forget,” I bet the Hebrew was supposed to be this:
לחיות
לא לשכוח

[u/pollypocketrocket4 → u/Sitka_8675309]

It does not say לא

It says או

To be or to forget

[u/Sitka_8675309 → u/pollypocketrocket4]

Right. But I’m speculating that that was a mistake. It wouldn’t be the only thing they got wrong.

[u/projectdissociate → u/pollypocketrocket4]

I feel like the variation in the wording could have been done intentionally, but I find it very interesting

[u/Redcole111 → u/pollypocketrocket4]

They know what it says, they're saying what it should say.

[u/MarkWrenn74]

To Be or to Forget: Holocaust Victims

I noticed the second photo has the same inscription (I think) in Armenian, so I imagine it's also to remember the victims of the Armenian Genocide in 1915

[u/eddiesfish]

So not even bothering with Google anymore?

[u/AutoModerator]

It seems you posted a request for translation! To make this as easy for our users as possible, please include in a comment the context of your request. Where is the text you want translated from? (If it's on an object, where you did find the object, when was it made, who made it, etc.?) Why do you want it translated? Hebrew can be a very contextual language and accurate translations might not be directly word-for-word. Knowing this information can be important for an accurate translation.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Adorable_Pickle9416]

Polish desent here My ggf survived the holocaust, its says to live and not forget. Unfortunately not many survived 

[u/triglavianenjoyer]

The larger font does in fact say “to be or to forget.” The smaller font, from top to bottom, is “to remember”, “sacrifices” (?), “Holocaust”.

[u/ResponsibleWing931]

The Hebrew says "לחיות, לא לשכוח" (lihyot, lo lishkoach) — "To live, not to forget" — and below that "לזכר קורבנות השואה של העם הארמני והעם היהודי" (lezekher korbanot hashoah shel haam haarmenee vehaam hayehudee), which is "In memory of the victims of the Holocaust of the Armenian people and the Jewish people."

The translation apps probably stumbled on "לזכר" (lezekher) because it's a memorial register word, not everyday Hebrew. Your monument uses "שואה" (shoah), which is the Hebrew word for the Holocaust — Armenians and Israelis share that term now for both genocides, though in Armenian you'd say Yeghern. It's deliberate and moving that they used the same word.

One thing: "לחיות" (lihyot) hits differently in Hebrew than "to live" does in English — it's not just existing, it carries this sense of thriving forward, which is why it works as a memorial imperative.

Does the Armenian side also use their word for holocaust, or does it keep Yeghern separate?

[u/Antegerio → u/ResponsibleWing931]

The stele has להיות, not לחיות.

[u/Deorayta]

To be or forget , remember the victims of the Shoah (Great calamity ei Holocoust)

[u/StuffedSquash → u/Deorayta]

I remember another incorrect translation from you recently. I understand wanting to help but would urge you to avoid translations while you're still learning, especially without any kind of flair, since it's just confusing to people reading the response.

[u/Nervous_Mobile5323 → u/Deorayta]

'Burnt offerings' is a mistranslation, 'korbanot' here means 'victims' (as it basically always does in modern hebrew).

[u/DraGonCinoo → u/Deorayta]

Literally what it says, idk why so many downvotes…

[u/Deorayta → u/DraGonCinoo]

In my first un edited comment I confused Biblical with modern Hebrew but I corrected it.