and even then it couldn't be sorted out.

甚至直到战争结束有些人还是下落不明
The loss of knowledge, the lack of knowledge

人们对亲人状况的不了解
about the most fundamental question of war is the most poignant origin

以及对战场情况的不了解
of a series of commemorative practices that followed it.

导致了随之而来的一系列纪念活动
Given the scale of the losses, the conventional churches

鉴于当时伤亡惨重传统教会
were not able to handle the problem of helping the bereaved

无法帮助那些丧失了亲人的人们
or those who were, as it were, in no man's land, in Purgatory.

或者那些已经去世接受炼狱的人们
In fact, Purgatory is an interesting idea.

事实上炼狱是一个非常有趣的观念
If you think about it, it's centered to a certain kind of popular Catholicism

它源自十九世纪某种流行的
in the nineteenth century.

天主教思想
Purgatory means that people who are on the way to heaven

炼狱是指人们在进入天堂的途中
have to wait a while, and maybe,

需要等待一些时日接受考验