Emmanuella Aug 8, 2021:

Thanks mrrafe .

mrrafe Aug 7, 2021:

Not diligently Arduously, intensely

Barbara Cochran, MFA (asker) Aug 7, 2021:

Thanks again. Will have to think about it more while editing. But I was under the impression that the "small building" was part of Jeu de Paume, since the latter is located along the Tuileries.

Emmanuella Aug 7, 2021:

Please note that special exhibitions were prepared for Goering or Hitler at the Musée du Jeu de Paume, while in this context we are in the petit bâtiment de la terrasse des Tuileries.

Barbara Cochran, MFA (asker) Aug 7, 2021:

Thanks I'll think about that again when I go back and edit. But I look at the Nazis as having been nothing more than vicious thugs and criminals, even if they were educated experts. So again, I would think twice about using the word "diligent" to describe them, too.

Emmanuella Aug 7, 2021:

No problem. However, it reads ' les experts allemands travaillaient seuls'...not 'some of the people', at least in this paragraph.

Barbara Cochran, MFA (asker) Aug 7, 2021:

I don't think that "diligently" would work here, if one considers that some of the people who were still working at the museum (French citizens) were doing so with Germans breathing down their necks. I think the term sounds a bit too positive, given the circumstances.

But thanks, anyway, for your suggestion.

Emmanuella Aug 7, 2021:

Museum activities, ok.
Concentrated on / focused on. How about 'carry out diligently museum activities' ?

Barbara Cochran, MFA (asker) Aug 7, 2021:

I think one can forget about saying that the building was closed down, since if I just use the expression "was re-purposed for", I think that covers the whole idea, while still being qualified by what follows.

Barbara Cochran, MFA (asker) Aug 7, 2021:

activité muséographique ... where workers concentrated on/ were focused on certain museum activities that were reminiscent of...

I don't think the expression, in this case, would necessarily refer to anything as specific or mundane as "cataloging", but rather to museum activities, more generally, but which were carried out under the eyes of the Germans. For example, special exhibits were set up for Goering (talk about full of himself), so he could pick and choose what he wanted to get for Hitler, and for his own personal collection.

Emmanuella Aug 7, 2021:

I understand what you mean but I wonder whether the ' experts allemands ' were ensconced inside the building ...

ormiston Aug 7, 2021:

This was not a translation! I was imagining the people ensconsed inside!

Emmanuella Aug 7, 2021:

Hunker down ? I'm not so sure ...

Barbara Cochran, MFA (asker) Aug 7, 2021:

I think that the correct idea is what mrrafe has suggested: that the building was re-designated so that workers could hunker down (ormiston's suggestion) and concentrate on museographic activity that was reminiscent of (Katarina's suggestion)...

Thanks everyone!

Emmanuella Aug 7, 2021:

Une personne se reNferme sur elle-même, tandis qu'on referme les portes du musée.
Les portes se referment...

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Aug 7, 2021:

se refermer sur? Just wondering if it might not be a typo for "se reNfermer sur".

Barbara Cochran, MFA (asker) Aug 7, 2021:

I Think polyglot Is Probably Right If I remember correctly, my working translation includes the term "focused on", which reflects what Katarina has suggested, too.

ormiston Aug 7, 2021:

Agree There's a sense of 'hunkerung down'

polyglot45 Aug 7, 2021:

se refermer sur gives the impression that they were focussed solely on something. The building had been given over entirely to....