Glossary of Nazi Germany

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This is a list of words, terms, concepts and slogans of Nazi Germany used in the historiography covering the Nazi regime. Some words were coined by Adolf Hitler and other Nazi Party members. Other words and concepts were borrowed and appropriated, and other terms were already in use during the Weimar Republic. Finally, some are taken from Germany's cultural tradition.

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0–9

A

B

C

  • Carinhall – country estate of Hermann Göring outside Berlin. Named in honor of his first wife Carin Göring (1888–1931).
  • Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern – (Chief of the German Police in the Reich Ministry of the Interior). Title conferred on Heinrich Himmler by Hitler in June 1936. Traditionally, law enforcement in Germany had been a state matter. In this role, Himmler was nominally subordinate to Interior Minister Frick. However, the decree effectively placed the police under the national control of members of the SS.
  • Chef der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD – (Chief of the Security Police and SD) or CSSD. Title first conferred on
    Kripo
    ).
  • Chef der Zivilverwaltung (CdZ) – (Chief of the Civilian Administration) Official title of the head of the Nazi occupation administration in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg which lasted from 10 May 1940 to 10 September 1944. The office was held by Gustav Simon, Gauleiter of the neighbouring German Gau of Trier-Koblenz (since 1942 Gau Moselland).
  • Chefsache (matter for the leader) – a top secret document or a matter which had to be decided by the leader (Hitler) himself.
  • Chełmno (Kulmhof) – the first camp constructed solely for extermination (Vernichtungslager). Located approximately 60 kilometers from Łodz, upwards of 300,000 Jews were killed at Chełmno by German firing squads and mobile gas vans.
  • Columbia-Haus (Columbia House) – infamous Gestapo prison set up immediately following Hitler's assumption of power in January 1933 which housed political opponents, Jews, and anyone deemed an enemy of the Nazi regime. Various forms of torture were employed there.
  • Comintern
    – abbreviated version of 'Communist International' (term not unique to Nazism).
  • Christlich-Sozialer Volksdienst or CSVD (Christian Social People's Service) – organization founded by the merger of the two Protestant political groups, the Christlich-soziale Reichsvereinigung (Christian Social Reich Association) and the Christlicher Volksdienst (Christian People's Service) to advocate for the Protestant religious cause. It was dissolved shortly after the Nazis seized power.
  • Cyclon B – Alternative spelling of Zyklon B, trade-name of a cyanide-based insecticide used to kill over one million people in gas chambers.

D

E

  • Eagle's Nest – see Kehlsteinhaus.
  • Edelweiß – code name used for Hitler's directive by Army Group A to attack the
    Baku oil fields
    in the Caucasus.
  • Eher Verlag – the Nazi Party's official publishing house made famous through its editions of Mein Kampf and operated by Max Amann
    .
  • Ehestandsdarlehen (Marriage Loan) – loan provided by the Nazi government to encourage marriage and raise the birth rate
    of 'Aryan' children.
  • Ehrenarier – "honorary Aryan" – some people or peoples of non-Aryan ancestry were declared Honorary Aryans because of their service to the Nazi government. Hermann Göring stated, "I will decide who is Aryan".
  • Ehrendolch – lit. "honor dagger", a presentation dagger awarded for individual recognition, especially by the SS.
  • Ehrenführer (Honorary Leader) – title awarded to high-ranking officials in the Nazi hierarchy which included the additional title of SS General. This special distinction was bestowed by Heinrich Himmler to a select handful of individuals to include Martin Bormann and Joachim von Ribbentrop.
  • Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter – "Cross of Honor of the German Mother" – An award given to German mothers who gave birth to four or more children. Those who bore four to five children received the bronze Honor Cross, those who bore six to seven children received the silver Honor Cross, and those who bore at least eight children received the gold
    Honor Cross.
  • Ehrenliste der Ermordeten der Bewegung – Nazi honor roll of those who fought and died for the party before it came to power in January 1933.
  • Ehrenwaffe – Nazi honor weapon worn by NSDAP party leaders who qualified to carry them.
  • Eiche (Oak) – code name of one of the four distinct operations to defend the Italian mainland against the Allied powers. It included the rescue of Mussolini by Otto Skorzeny and his paratroopers from captivity in the Apennines.
  • Eichenlaubträger (Oak leaves dignitary/carrier) – a person awarded the Knight's Cross with oak leaves.
  • Eigengesetzlichkeit – determined by inner laws as the Germanization of autonomy.
  • Eichmannreferat, Judenreferat – Reich Security Head Office Referat IV B4 .
  • Eignungsprüfer (Suitability Examiner) – specialists from the Main Office for Race and Settlement of the SS and other medical professionals who evaluated Polish children to assess whether or not their racial worthiness warranted being counted as Germans. This process entailed the examination of a child's general physique, eye color, hair, and the like. After evaluation, the child was placed into one of several categories; desirable for natural reproduction, tolerable, or undesirable.
  • Eindeutschung (Germanization) – process of turning foreign nationals of suitable 'Aryan' or related bloodlines into Germans.
  • Eindeutschungsfähigkeit – an individual's suitability for Germanization.
  • Einheitspreisgeschäft – business which sold goods and commodities inside Nazi Germany in accordance with government regulated prices.
  • Eingliederung (Integration) – expression for areas at least partially annexed into the Reich like
    Alsace-Lorraine or Luxembourg
    .
  • Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer – "One people, one nation, one leader"; one of the most-repeated slogans of the NSDAP.
  • Aktion Reinhardt
  • Einsatzbereitschaft (Readiness for Service) – label for the courage and willingness of individual Germans to obey and sacrifice for the Nazi cause.
  • Einsatzgruppen – "Special-operation units" that were death squads under the command of the RSHA and followed the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front to engage in the systematic killing of mostly civilians, including: Jews, communists, intellectuals, and others.
  • Einsatzkommandos (Task Commandos) – special mobilized units of the Einsatzgruppen tasked with eliminating Communists, partisans, Jews, and saboteurs on the Eastern Front.
  • Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg
    für die Besetzen Gebiete    , "Reichsleiter Rosenberg Institute for the Occupied Territories" – principal authority for the looting of artwork and cultural treasures from occupied countries.
  • Einsatztrupp (Troop Task Force) – smallest of the Einsatzgruppen units responsible for liquidations in the German-occupied territories.
  • Eintopf ('one pot meal') – term propagandized by the Nazis to encourage Germans to eat a one-pot meal on a weekly basis to conserve food (especially meat) for the good of the country. "Eintopf, das Opferessen des Reiches" was an expression often used which meant: "A one-pot meal, the sacrificial meal for the Reich." As part of the Eintopfsonntag campaign, from 1933 the
    Winterhilfe
    , the first Sunday of the month from October until March.
  • Einwanderungszentralstelle (EWZ; Central Immigration Office) – Organization established in 1939 and directed by Reinhard Heydrich which managed the disbursement of property and assets of exterminated or deported Jews and non-Jewish Poles to members of the Germanic people (Volksdeutsche) for their use instead.
  • Eiserne Faust (Iron Fist) – right-wing political association originally based in Munich where Hitler met his erstwhile 'comrade in arms' Ernst Röhm, who was later assassinated at Hitler's order.
  • Eiserne Kreuz, Iron Cross – Originally a Prussian royal military decoration for valor or combat leadership, revived by Hitler in 1939. There were three grades, the Iron Cross, Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz) and Grand Cross (Grosskreuz); the basic grade was awarded in two degrees, 2nd and 1st Class. Holders of the 1914 Iron Cross were awarded a device (Spange) to be worn with the original decoration in lieu of a second medal.
  • Endlösung – Final solution, short for Endlösung der Judenfrage – "Final solution to the Jewish question", a Nazi euphemism for what later became known as The Holocaust.[6]
  • Endsieg – "final victory"; referring to the expected victory in World War II. Nazi leadership spoke of the "final victory" as late as March 1945.
  • Nazi art
    . This term also included entartete Musik or music that was considered non-German like Jazz, modern music, and any music composed by Jews.
  • Enterdungsaktion – ("Exhuming action"), also called the Sonderaktion 1005 ("special action 1005") or Aktion 1005 ("Action 1005"). See above Aktion 1005.
  • Entjudung (
    Dejudaization
    ) – freeing things from all forms of Jewish influence, or the removal of Jews entirely.
  • Entpolnisierung (Depolonization) – the clearing of racially Polish people and Jews from Poland, accomplished through the use of exploitative slave labor and mass murder.
  • Entnazifizierung (Denazification) – the post-war process of removing all semblance of Nazi influence from the surviving German people. Commanders in the respective Russian, British, French, and American zones of Germany removed (to the extent possible) all former Nazis in leading positions and established 5 distinctive categories for the Nazis: (1) major offenders – those persons who committed major crimes, to be sentenced to life in prison or death; (2) activists, militarists, or profiteers – sentenced to a maximum of ten years imprisonment; (3) lesser offenders – those who deserved some form of leniency, generally sentenced to a probation period of two-three years; (4) followers – those who nominally supported the Nazi regime, subject to surveillance; (5) exonerated persons – persons who at some point actively or passively resisted the Nazis and suffered oppression under the regime.
  • Erbgesundheitsgericht (Hereditary Health Court) – courts which often determined whether or not to sterilize individuals in Nazi Germany.
  • Erbhöfe – hereditary; farms labelled as such were guaranteed to remain with the same family in perpetuity.
  • Erbhofgesetz – the 1933 NSDAP hereditary farm law; it guaranteed family farm holdings of three hundred acres (1.2 km2) or less.
  • Ereignismeldung (EM) – report on activities.
  • Erlass des Führers und Reichskanzlers zur Festigung deutschen Volkstums – Decree of the Führer and Reich Chancellor concerning the Strengthening of German Nationality.
  • Ermächtigungsgesetz – "Law to Relieve the Distress of the People and State"; Enabling Act of March 23, 1933, which had the effect of suspending the Weimar Constitution and granting Hitler dictatorial powers
    .
  • Ernährungsschlacht – the battle for food supplies.
  • Gasified coal was manufactured to create an artificial petroleum
    -like product to fuel vehicles. In a military context used to refer to replacement troops, e.g., Ersatzabteilung "replacement battalion."
  • Erzeugungsschlacht – Battle for Production.
  • Euthanasiebefehl (Euthanasia Order) – Hitler's secret order issued in the fall of 1939 which empowered medical professionals to review a patient's overall health status to determine whether or not they would be euthanized. Those who were terminally-ill, mentally handicapped or otherwise a financial burden to the German state were put to death under this order.
  • Evakuierungslager (Evacuation Camp) – camps where Jews were sometimes held before being sent to any of the various concentration camps throughout the Greater Reich.

F

G

  • Gau
    , pl. Gaue – NSDAP regional districts which functioned as the de facto administrative organization of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945.
Further subdivided into:
  • Bezirke – districts
  • Kreise – counties or subdistricts; smaller units of the Bezirk
  • Ortsgruppen – Party branch or local branches. It took a minimum of fifteen members to be recognized
  • Hauszellen – tenement cells
  • Straßenzellen – street cells
  • Stützpunkte – strong points
  • Gauführer – very early SA and SS rank, indicating the SA or SS leader for a Gau; renamed Oberführer in 1928.
  • Gau or of a Reichsgau
    . They had to swear unconditional personal loyalty to the Führer and were directly answerable to him.
  • Gau-Uschla – the level of the four-tiered Uschla system immediately below the Reichs-Uschla and immediately above the Kreis-Uschla.
  • Gefrierfleischorden
     – ("Frozen flesh order" / frozen meat medal) Trench humor nickname for the service medal awarded for fighting on the Russian front. The decoration's official name was Die Medaille Winterschlacht Im Osten usually just shortened to Ostmedaille (East medal).
  • Geheime Feldpolizei (GFP) – Secret Field Police. It was Germany's secret military police that was organised by the German high command (OKW) in July 1939 to serve with the Wehrmacht. It was mainly designed to carry out security work in the field, as the executive agent of the Abwehr.
  • Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) – Secret State Police. Originally the Prussian secret state police and later (as part of the SiPo, then merged into the RHSA) the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Gestapo was derived as follows: Geheime Staatspolizei.
  • Gekrat – Either the Gemeinnützige Krankentransport GmbH ("Charitable Ambulance LLC") or one of its distinctive gray buses. The actual purpose of such euphemistically named "charitable ambulances" was to send sick and disabled people to the Nazi killing centers under the Action T4
    eugenics program. Gekrat is an abbreviation of the company name: Gemeinnützige Krankentransport GmbH.
  • Geltungsjude (“one who counts as a Jew”) – A person with two Jewish grandparents who met one of four criteria in the Nuremberg Laws which caused them to be deemed a Jew rather than a Mischling of the first degree. Compare Istjude.
  • Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz – "The common good before the self good"; Rudolf Jung popularized it in his book Der Nationale Sozialismus, 1922, Second edition. This became Hitler's basic stance on the subordination of the economy to the national interest.[citation needed]
  • Gemeinschaftsfremde – "Community Alien". Anyone who did not belong to the Volksgemeinschaft.
  • Generalgouverneur – Governor-general. Leader of the civil administration of the Generalgouvernement.
  • Generalgouvernement (General Government) – official designation for the parts of pre-war Poland that were not directly incorporated into the Großdeutsches Reich, but were otherwise placed under a totally German-ruled civil government.
  • Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete – (General Government for the occupied Polish territories) – complete title for the above-mentioned Generalgouvernement from 1939 to 1941. Note that this name did not signify the existence of a military government.
  • Genickschuss – "nape shoot", a method of execution.
  • Genickschussanlage – "neck shooting facility", the official name of a facility used for surprise executions.
  • Germania – Officially Welthauptstadt ('world-capital-city') Germania (Latin term for Germany): the name Hitler wanted for his proposed world capital city of Berlin – implying planned German dominance of much of the planet. Hitler began sketching grand buildings, memorials, and broad avenues in the 1920s. Architectural model, redevelopment plans, and structural testing by Albert Speer, forced evictions, and preliminary demolitions got underway in the mid-late 1930s. Wartime needs sidelined the project. (Germania was also the name of the second regiment of the SS-Verfügungstruppe
    ).
  • Gleichschaltung – the restructuring of German society and government into streamlined, centralized hierarchies of power, with the intention of gaining total control and co-ordination of all aspects of society. Duke University's notable historian, Claudia Koonz, described the institutionalized Gleichschaltung of the National Socialist government as comprehensive in scope and depth.[8] For the Nazis, Gleichschaltung meant absolute unequivocal conformity and obedience. Such uniform programming of thought was part propaganda induced, partly the result of the Gestapo enforcement mechanism, and part social pressure from every direction; it was of paramount importance to act uniformly if one wanted to remain a member of the Volksgenossen.
  • Goldfasanen ("golden pheasants") – derogatory term Germans used for high-ranking Nazi Party members. The term derived from the brown and red uniforms with golden insignia worn at official functions and rallies by party members that resembled the brilliant colours of a male pheasant.
  • Goose step (Stechschritt) – a ceremonial marching form of many countries. The form consists of stepping forward without bending the knees. After the Nazis' use of it in their parades it was later used when referring to other totalitarian governments. Still used by some countries today.
  • Goralenvolk, the Gorals of southern Poland and northern Slovakia, who were considered a separate ethnic group, said to be Slavicized ethnic Germans.
  • Gottgläubiger [lit. "believer in God"], those who broke away from Christianity but kept their faith in a higher power or divine creator. The term implies someone who still believes in God, although without having any religious affiliation. Like the Communist Party in the USSR, the Nazis were not favorable toward religious institutions, but unlike the Communists, they did not promote or require atheism on the part of their membership.
  • Gott mit uns "God with us" – traditional Prussian military motto, worn on the belt buckles of the Wehrmacht.
  • Grand Cross – see Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes
  • Gröfaz – mocking acronym for Größter Feldherr aller Zeiten ("greatest general of all time"), an appellation of Hitler.
  • Großdeutsches Reich "Greater German Domain" – the official state name of Germany from 1943 to 1945; earlier used to refer to pre-1938 Germany (the Altreich) plus Austria and other annexed territories.
  • Großgermanisches Reich
     "Greater Germanic Domain" – the official state name of the expanded empire that Germany's war aims set out to establish within Europe in World War II.
  • Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, Grand Cross of the Iron Cross – Germany's highest military decoration. Established in two degrees, the Grand Cross and the Star of the Grand Cross; the former was awarded only once under the Third Reich, to Göring, and the latter never.
  • Großraumwirtschaft – continental economic zone similar to Lebensraum.
  • Großtraktor "large tractor" – code name for the Reichswehr's clandestine heavy tank design.
  • Gruppenführer "group leader" – an SA and SS rank, equivalent to (US/UK) Major General.

H

  • Hadamar Euthanasia Centre Euthanasia hospital run under Aktion T4
    .
  • Hakenkreuz 'hooked cross' – swastika.
  • Halsschmerzen "sore throat" or "itchy neck" – expression to designate a reckless or glory-seeking commander, implying an obsession with winning the Knight's Cross.
  • Hauptscharführer "chief squad leader" – an SS rank, the highest enlisted grade in the Allgemeine-SS, equivalent to master sergeant.
  • Hauptsturmführer "chief storm leader" – an SS rank, equivalent to captain.
  • Haupttruppführer "chief troop leader" – an SA and early SS rank, the highest enlisted grade in the SA, equivalent to sergeant major.
  • Heer – the Army. Not specific to the Nazi era.
  • Heim ins Reich – slogan standing for a policy which strove to integrate Austria and other territories with ethnic Germans into Greater Germany.
  • Heimat – the 'homeland' of the German volk (i.e., The Greater German Reich). Not specific to the Nazi era.
  • Heimatvertriebene
     – Germans expelled from their homeland.
  • Heimtückegesetz
     – 1934 law establishing penalties for abuse of Nazi badges and uniforms and restricting freedom of speech.
  • "Hermann Meyer" – derogatory nickname for Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring, after his intemperate boast that "if one bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me 'Meyer'!"
  • Herrenvolk/Herrenmenschen/Herrenrasse 'people/race of lords' – The master race
    .
  • Heute Deutschland! Morgen die Welt! (Germany today! Tomorrow the world!) – popular slogan among Nazis during their push for political power.
  • historical revisionism campaigns, it played a key role in forming the perceptions of the Waffen-SS in popular culture
    .
  • HIB-Aktion – "Into-the-Factories Campaign"; a part of the Nazi campaign to recruit factory workers.
  • Hilfswerk Mutter und Kind (Mother and Child Welfare) – a welfare organization established to aid mothers and children in financial need.
  • Hilfswillige (HIWIS; Helpers) – the foreign auxiliaries of the Wehrmacht, SS, and police who volunteered to assist the Nazis in various endeavors, be it manning anti-aircraft batteries, assisting in concentration camps, aiding in resettlement operations, transport and supply functions, or even participating in killing operations when assigned to the Einsatzgruppen.
  • against the law
    to use the gesture in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. In other European nations like Switzerland and Sweden, it is only illegal when used to propagate Nazi ideology or the countenance thereof.
  • Hitlerism
    is another term for Nazism used by its opponents.
  • Hitlerproleten – "Hitler's proletariat"; what the Berlin working class Nazis called themselves (to distinguish themselves from the rest of the proletariat). (8)
  • Hitler-Stalin-Pakt (also called the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the Nazi-Soviet Pact) – treaty of non-aggression signed between Germany and the Soviet Union on 23 August 1939 which also stipulated that they (Germany and the Soviet Union) would aid the other in the event of military aggression from other powers. It also established spheres of influence between the two powers, anticipating territorial and political re-arrangements consequent a European conflict. The agreement remained in-force until the Nazis broke it by invading the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941.
  • Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) – The German youth organization founded by the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Made up of the Hitlerjugend proper, for male youth ages 14–18; the younger boys' section Deutsches Jungvolk for ages 10–13; and the girls' section Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM). From 1936 membership in the HJ proper was compulsory.
  • Hoheitsabzeichen, or more specific Hoheitsadler or Reichsadler – national insignia (eagle and swastika). See
    Federal Coat of Arms of Germany
    .
  • Holocaust – post-war term (unknown to the Nazis) referring to the mass murder of Jews, Sinti-Roma, Slavs, and other undesirables (euthanized Germans; homosexuals, disabled people, chronically ill, criminals, ideological dissenters, etc.) under the Nazi regime during the period 1941–1945 throughout occupied Europe. As many as 6 million European Jews were systematically killed, as were members of other persecuted groups. Through concerted killing actions by Einsatzgruppen, mobile gassing units, and fixed institutions (Nazi concentration camps), the Nazis methodically killed upwards of 11 million or more people. Specific to the murder of the Jews, the Nazi regime employed the term Endlösung, short for Endlösung der Judenfrage ('final solution to the Jewish question
    '), a euphemism for what later became known as The Holocaust.
  • Horst-Wessel-Lied – The "Horst Wessel Song", also known as Die Fahne hoch ("The Flag Up High") from its opening line, was the anthem of the Nazi Party from 1930 to 1945. From 1933 to 1945 the Nazis made it a co-national anthem of Nazi Germany, along with the first stanza of Deutschlandlied.

I

  • Lebensunwertes Leben (Life unworthy of life, similar to Unnütze Esser), which ultimately precipitated the Final Solution
    .
  • IG Farben was a German chemical industry conglomerate. Its name is taken from Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (Syndicate [literally, "community of interests"] of dye-making corporations).
  • NSDAP
    national tabloid.
  • IMT (
    Nuremberg Trials
    at the end of World War II. It was composed of judges from France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States.
  • Infanteriesturmabzeichen – Infantry assault medal
  • Inländer – Native. Those protected as Reich citizens but with limited rights.
  • innerbürtig – born within the German race[9]
  • Inschutzhaftnahme – Taken into protective custody
  • Internationalismus (Internationalism) – according to the Nazi worldview, internationalism consists of political, economic, and social actions not linked to a specific race. Internationalism represented an ideological error to the Nazis since it was contingent upon the idea that all men are created equal, an idea they found abhorrent. Hitler decried the dangers of internationalism and its humanitarian and egalitarian nature as antithetical to the Nazi ideals and instead, fought against internationalism since for him, internationalism was a tool of Jewish bankers and Marxian Socialists, who were otherwise stateless people and for whom, their power culminated in this international abstraction.[10][11] Hitler also coupled internationalism together with capitalism and democracy – asserting to the end that these ideas clashed entirely with the German national soul.[12]
  • Invalidenaktion – Operation against the sick; murder of sick concentration camp inmates
  • Iron Cross – see Eiserne Kreuz
  • Istjude – Being Jewish. According to the Reichsbürgergesetz of November 1935, a person was deemed Jewish who had three Jewish grandparents, regardless of his or her confession of faith or nationality

J

  • Jedem das Seine – "To each his own", German proverb uniquely displayed at the entrance to the Buchenwald concentration camp, in place of the Arbeit macht frei proverb at most Nazi concentration camps' entrances
  • loan-word kanaille (canaille), meaning scum, scoundrel or rabble, preceded the party.[13]
  • Judenboykott
  • Juden-Christen (Jew-Christian) – a person unable to establish their Aryan/Germanic past two or three generations.
  • Judenfrage
  • Judenaushang – Notices identifying residences or businesses as Jewish-owned.
  • Jewish
    presence. German for "free of Jews".
  • Judenhäuser (Jewish Houses) – Gestapo term for buildings that were managed or administered by the Jewish Religious Federation.[14]
  • Judenkarte – Temporary food ration card for Jews, which comprised severely reduced food rations with the letter “J” stamped on it; the Nazis later printed the word "Jude" across the card. [14]
  • Judenknecht – "servant of the Jews". Gentile individuals, groups or states opposing Nazi Germany.
  • Judenleihgebühr – Fee paid to the SS by German corporations for the loan of Jewish slave laborers, which equated to 0.70 ℛ︁ℳ︁ per day per person.[14]
  • Judenrampe – "Jews ramp". At death camps and concentration camps, the rail platform for unloading newly arrived (usually Jewish) internees.
  • Judenrat – Jewish council. The Gestapo established Judenräte (the plural) in ghettoes to have them carry out administrative duties.
  • Judenrein
     – areas from which any trace of a Jewish bloodline would have been completely eradicated. German for "cleansed of Jews".
  • Judensau – Jew-pig, or Jew-sow. This was a long-standing German defamation against Jews that accuses them of learning the Talmudic religion from "kissing, sucking the teats, and eating the feces of a sow."[15]
  • Judenstempel – The "Jewish stamp" was an annotation affixed on German passports by Nazi authorities from 1938 that included a red “J”, identifying the holder as a Jew. By July 1941 a police ordinance required this J-stamp to be included on the passport's cover.[16]
  • Judenstern – Yellow badge – a compulsory yellow Star of David badge worn on the arm or chest to identify Jews.
  • Jüdische Grundspekulationsgesellschaften – Hitler's slang term for Jewish property speculation companies.
  • Jüdischer Parasit
  • Jud Süß (Jew Süss) – anti-Semitic pejorative used to associate the apostle
    Jud Süß
     notorious for its anti-Semitic propaganda.
  • Jugendschutzkammer (Youth Protection Chamber) – organization for representing and adjudicating the rights of young people in Nazi Germany. Representation could be made available for youths filing complaints against teachers or parents, for instance.
  • Juliabkommen (July Agreement) – settlement made by German ambassador to Vienna (Franz von Papen) and Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg on 11 July 1936 to temper the foreign relations between Austria and Germany in the wake of an attempted Nazi Putsch during the summer of 1934. It was a precursor to further German imposition later by way of the Anschluss.
  • 20 July Plot – failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime, by Army officers led by Oberst i. G. Claus von Stauffenberg and Generaloberst Ludwig Beck; see Operation Valkyrie
    .
  • Jungmädel (Young Girls) – organization for girls below the age of fourteen.
  • Jungvolk (Young People) – the junior division of the Hitler Youth which consisted of boys between 10 and 14 years of age.

K

L

M

N

O

P

  • Pan-Germanism – Idea that all Germans should live in one country.
  • Panzerkampfwagen – "Armoured fighting vehicle" (i.e. tank
    ); military vehicle not specific to Third Reich, but listed here for its centrality to Blitzkrieg.
  • Panzerfaust – "Armour fist"; an inexpensive, disposable, no-recoil anti-tank weapon of World War II and forerunner of the Soviet RPG (rocket-propelled grenade).
  • Panzerschreck – An anti-tank weapon of World War II, similar to the American bazooka.
  • Parole der Woche – Wall newspaper used to publicise Nazi causes.
  • Partei-Statistik – 1935 Nazi Party three-volume publication of membership data.
  • Parteitag – (NSDAP) Party (rally) days.
  • Pipel or Pipele – Among Nazi concentration camp detainees, an attractive young boy or teen who receives special favor and privileges by maintaining a relationship with another detainee of higher status, like a camp guard or a Kapo. It was largely known in the Camp system that quite a number of guards and Kapos abused their boys sexually.[19]
  • Planwirtschaft – A limited planned economy; Walther Funk promoted this idea within the Nazi party who thought genuine corporatism too stifling for business growth.
  • Plutokratie – "Plutocracy"; Nazi term for the western capitalist countries, especially the US and the UK.
  • Plötzensee
     – Notorious prison in Berlin where numerous opponents of Hitler and the Nazi regime were put to death.
  • Prinzenerlass – 1940 decree by Hitler prohibiting members of Germanic royal families from working for the military.
  • Project Riese – Code name for a construction project in 1943–1945, consisting of seven underground structures located in the Owl Mountains and Książ Castle in Lower Silesia.
  • Putsch – German word meaning coup or revolt; has also entered the English language
    meaning the same.

Q

R

S

  • schaffendes und raffendes Kapital "productive and greedy capital" – a contrast between two categories of capital, of whom the latter was seen as oriented in banking and stock trading and as the domain of the Jews. The distinction was first coined by Otto Glogau in an 1874 article for the magazine Die Gartenlaube and subsequently reiterated by economist Gottfried Feder.[22]
  • Scharführer "squad leader" – an SA and SS rank, equivalent to corporal (SA) or sergeant (SS).
  • Schlageter – a play written for Adolf Hitler about the Nazi
    Leo Schlageter and performed for the Führer on his 44th birthday, April 20, 1933, to celebrate his accession to power on January 30 of that year. It was written by Nazi playwright and poet laureate Hanns Johst. In it, one of the characters, Thiemann, delivers the famous line "Whenever I hear the word 'culture
    ', I release the safety catch on my revolver."
  • Schönheit der Arbeit – Beauty of Labor program.
  • SS-Schütze "rifleman" – lowest rank in the Waffen-SS, equivalent to private.
  • Schutzstaffel (abbreviated SS or Runic "↯↯") – "Protection Squadron" was a major Nazi organization that grew from a small paramilitary unit that served as Hitler's personal body guard into militarily what was in practical terms the fourth branch of the Wehrmacht. It was not legally a part of the military (and therefore wore the national emblem on the left sleeve instead of over the right breast pocket). "SS" is formed from (S)chutz(s)taffel. Made up of the following branches:
    • Allgemeine SS – "General SS", general main body of the Schutzstaffel made up of the full-time administrative, security, intelligence and police branches of the SS as well as the broader part-time membership which turned out for parades, rallies and "street actions" such as Kristallnacht; also included reserve and honorary members
    • SS-
      Totenkopfverbände
       – "Death's Head Units", responsible for the concentration camps
    • SS-
      Verfügungstruppe
       – military "dispositional" (i.e. at Hitler's personal disposal) troops organized by the SS in 1934
    • Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
      (LSSAH) and the combat Standarten of the Totenkopfverbände
  • Das Schwarze Korps –
    SS
    .
  • Selektion – selection of inmates for execution or slave labor at an
    concentration camp
    .
  • Septemberings – Those who joined the NSDAP after the Party's breakthrough in the Reichstag elections of September 1930, but before Hitler became Chancellor in 1933.
  • Siberiakentum – ('Siberiandom') the annihilation of the Polish people by their forceful assimilation into the native populations of Siberia in the intended event of their wholesale expulsion to this region.
  • Sicherheitsdienst (SD) "Security Service" – the intelligence arm of the SS and later a main department of the RSHA.
  • Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) "Security Police" – the combined forces of the Gestapo and Kripo.
  • Sieg Heil
    !     – "Hail to Victory", mass exclamation when bringing the Hitlergruß (Hitler Greeting).
  • runic alphabet popularized in the SS emblem (Runic "↯↯"
    ) and other insignia.
  • Sippenhaft – the principle of families sharing the responsibility for a crime committed by one of its members.
  • Sobibor
    – extermination camp which began operations sometime during 1942 in the south of Poland near Lublin where approximately 250,000 Jews and other deported prisoners were murdered.
  • Sonderaktion 1005 – ("Special action 1005"), also called Aktion 1005 ("Action 1005") or 'Enterdungsaktion ("exhuming action"). See above Aktion 1005.
  • Sonderbehandlung – "Special handling" or "special treatment" – a euphemism for killing.
  • Sonderkraftfahrzeug
     (Sd.Kfz.) "special purpose motor vehicle" – all tanks and other military vehicles were assigned an Sd.Kfz. number.
  • Sonderkommando – "Special commando" – originally used mainly for actual special-task troops in the Waffen SS. However, the term was quickly put to facetious use at the concentration camps, labor camps, and death camps as the euphemism for the prisoner-laborers forced to do jobs like stoking the crematoria, shaving newcomers' hair, processing seized belongings, helping unload trains, and removing corpses from gas chambers. Such laborers were told they could live in exchange for their efforts, but were regularly killed off and replaced. When working in their civilian clothes, such laborers would at times wear a color-coded armband to distinguish them from new arrivals – perhaps one color for the crew unloading the trains and herding new arrivals to the undressing area, a different color for the crew that sorted belongings, etc. They might also wear the familiar striped prisoner suits similar to those used by the slave laborers. Digits appended to the word Sonderkommando denoted prisoner-laborers attached to a specific "special action". For example, see Sonderkommando 1005 in Aktion 1005 above. Work gang leaders were called kapos.
  • Sprachregelung – a special language that masked the camp conditions and the policy of extermination. It substituted words like "extermination", "killing", "liquidation" with euphemisms such as "final solution", "evacuation", "special treatment", "resettlement", "labour in the East". The language was developed to deceive victims and help SS officials and others avoid acknowledging reality.(2)
  • Sprechabend – closed Nazi party meetings.
  • SS or Runic "↯↯" – Abbreviation and emblem of the Schutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron"). See above: Schutzstaffel.
  • SS- und Polizeiführer
    , SS and Police Leader – these powerful officials, reporting directly to Himmler, commanded all SS and police forces within a geographic region, which together covered the Reich and the occupied territories.
    • SS- und Polizeiführer (SSPF)
    • Höher SS- und Polizeiführer (HSSPF), Higher SS and Police Leader
    • Höchste SS- und Polizeiführer (HöSSPF), Highest SS and Police Leader
  • Stabschef-SA Chief of Staff or deputy commander of the Sturmabteilung
    ; effectively the SA commander after 1930.
  • Stabsscharführer "staff squad leader" – a Waffen-SS position (not a rank): the senior NCO in a company, functionally equivalent to a US first sergeant or UK company sergeant major.
  • Staffel "squadron" – the basic formation of the early SA 1925–28. Also
    used by the Luftwaffe
    and the cavalry.
  • Staffelführer "squadron leader" – very early SA and SS rank. Also a rank in the NSKK, equivalent to major.
  • Der Stahlhelm "The Steel helmet" – right-wing World War I veterans' organization; merged into the SA in 1933.
  • Standarte – regiment-sized unit of the SA, Allgemeine-SS and Totenkopfverbände.
  • Standartenführer "Standarte leader" – an SA and SS rank, equivalent to colonel.
  • Ständesozialismus – corporative (or "corporate") socialism; promoted by O. W. Wagener, sometime head of the political economy section of the party organization.
  • Stellvertreter des Führers "Deputy of the Führer" – title of the deputy head of the Nazi Party, held by Rudolf Hess until 1941 when he was replaced by Martin Bormann under the new title of Party Chancellor
    after the former's unauthorized flight to Great Britain.
  • Stennes-Putsch – the revolt in 1930 and again in 1931 by the Berlin SA, commanded by Walter Stennes, in which they attacked and briefly occupied the headquarters of Gauleiter Joseph Goebbels
    .
  • Stern zum Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross – Germany's ultimate military decoration, a unique honor for the greatest commander in a war. Awarded only twice, to Blücher in 1813 and to Hindenburg in 1918; the Star of 1939 was created but never awarded, and is now at West Point.
  • Stoßtrupp "shock troop" – Hitler's body guard unit before the Hitlerputsch; forerunner to the SS.
  • Strasser wing
    – named after Gregor Strasser, who led the left wing of the Nazi Party.
  • Stück – "sticks" or pieces, items. The term could mean sticks of firewood or pieces of bread or cake. In the Nazi era, a Sprachregelung term for Jews and other "undesirables" meant to dehumanize such people. Example: "1000 Stück Juden in den Osten deportiert" ("1000 Jewish pieces deported to the east") – not meaning items of personal property of Jewish ownership, but rather referring to the Jews themselves as "pieces".
  • Sturm – company-sized SA or SS unit.
  • Sturmabteilung (SA) "Storm Detachment" or "Battalion" – the Stormtroopers, a Nazi paramilitary organisation that was instrumental in bringing Hitler to power; nicknamed the Brownshirts (Braunhemden) after their uniforms. The name originated with the Army's special assault battalions of World War I.
  • Sturmbann "storm band" or "band of Stürme" – battalion-sized SA or SS unit.
  • Sturmbannführer "storm band leader" – an SA and SS rank, equivalent to major.
  • Der Stürmer – a weekly anti-Semitic newspaper founded by Julius Streicher known for its lurid semi-pornographic content.
  • Sturmführer "storm leader" – an SA and early SS rank, equivalent to 2nd lieutenant.
  • Sturmgewehr "storm gun" – the StG 44, a model of assault rifle in service from 1942 to 1945, of a class ordinarily designated "Maschinenpistole".
  • Sturmhauptführer "storm chief leader" – an SA and early SS rank, equivalent to captain.
  • Sturmmann "storm trooper" – an SA and SS rank, equivalent to a lance corporal.[23]
  • Sturmscharführer "storm squad leader" – the highest NCO rank in the Waffen-SS, equivalent to (US) sergeant major or (UK) RSM.
  • Munich Conference, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
    (1937–1940) was duped by the Führer and pursued a policy of appeasement which recognized Germany's claims. The British Prime Minister incorrectly believed it would mean, `peace in our time', a statement he embarrassingly made before the British Press. Chamberlain was wrong about the intentions of the Nazis, and the Sudetenland became his greatest gaffe as Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939, precipitating the Second World War.
  • cafés, to dance the jitterbug to swing music
    .

T

U

  • Übermensch – "over-human" or "higher human" – an idea appropriated from the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and used by Nazis to label the Germanic "Aryan" people which Nazis considered racially and culturally superior. The "master race". (Opposite of Untermensch).
  • Überwachungsdienst – surveillance service of the aA to protect the organization against Konjunkturritter (financial opportunists).
  • Unzuverlässige Elemente – unreliable societal elements, such as Jews, communists, and homosexuals.
  • Umschlagplatz – (lit. "changing place") place of assembly. Jewish police were told to collect Jews and bring them to this designated spot for pick up and transfer to the trains that would usually transport them to camps (labor or extermination)
  • Umsiedlersonderzug – (lit. "re-settler special train") "Relocation" train – actually a one-way transport by which Jews and others were moved to camps (labor, concentration and extermination camps). The term appears on some period railroad documents (example).
  • Umvolkung – ethnic dissemination.
  • Untermensch – "under-human" or lower human, subhuman. Label Nazis assigned to ethnographic groups they considered racially inferior to the "Aryans". Under Nazi racial theory and practice, such "subhumans" could be exploited, abused, and murdered with impunity. (Opposite of Übermensch).
  • Unternehmen Walküre "Operation Valkyrie" – Originally a Replacement Army emergency plan for maintaining order in the event of an internal revolt, it was used as a pretext by a group of officers led by Generaloberst Ludwig Beck, General d. I. Friedrich Olbricht and Oberst i. G. Claus von Stauffenberg to execute a plan to overthrow the Nazi regime following their assassination of Adolf Hitler. Launched on 20 July 1944, the assassination failed and resulted in some 5,000 executions.
  • Unterscharführer "junior squad leader" – an SS rank, equivalent to corporal.
  • Untersturmführer "junior storm leader" – an SS rank, equivalent to second lieutenant.
  • Uschla
    – arbitration committee of the NSDAP Party Directorate, an acronym for Untersuchung und Schlichtungs-Ausschuss (Inquiry and Settlement Committee).
  • Unnütze Esser – (lit. "useless eaters" or "useless mouths") Similar to
    Untermenschen not deemed to be useful to Germany.[24] The term was also applied to Jews, in general.[25] It was used in the 1938 children's book Der Giftpilz by Julius Streicher, and in Philip K. Dick's book[26] and its television adaptation, The Man in the High Castle.[27]

V

  • V-1 and V-2 – Vergeltungswaffen "weapons of retaliation". Used to attack Britain and other countries controlled by the Allies. The V-1 was the world's first operational cruise missile; the V-2 the first short-range ballistic missile (SRBM). Other "V-Waffe" – like a multiple-chamber supergun design project – were planned but did not become operational.
  • NSDAP was officially banned in Bavaria, between the Beer Hall Putsch
    (9 November 1923) and the effective date of the lifting of the ban (16 February 1925).
  • SS-
    Verfügungstruppe "Dispositional Troops" – the military branch of the SS, formed in 1934 under Paul Hausser. In August 1940 became the nucleus of the Waffen-SS
    .
  • Vernichtungslager
     – death camps. This word was never used by the Nazis themselves.
  • ethnic group. It is extremely difficult to convey the full meaning of this word in English. It implies a "volk community" rooted in the soil of the heimat (homeland) with many centuries of ancestral tradition and linked together by a spiritual zeitgeist
    .
  • Völkischer Beobachter – (People's Observer), the official Nazi Party newspaper.
    • Deutsche Arbeiterpolitik – special labor section included in the Völkischer Beobachter paper
    • Der Angriff – (the Attack), Nazi Party labor newspaper started by Joseph Goebbels
    • Der Erwerbslose – Nazi Party labor newspaper
    • Arbeitertum – Nazi Party labor newspaper.
  • Volksgenossen – "National Comrades". Those who belonged to the Volksgemeinschaft.
  • Volksgerichtshof
     – literally "People's Court", a tribunal which condemned people accused of crimes against the state; verdicts were sometimes directed by Hitler himself.
  • Occupied Europe
    before crowds of up to 180,000 people.
  • Kraft durch Freude
    Wagen" during the mid-1930s, it did not go into production until after 1945. Perhaps the most durable and popular legacy of the Nazi era.
  • Volksgemeinschaft – "People's Community" – a concept that means national solidarity; popular ethnic community; classless volk community.
  • Volkssturm – (People's Army), formed in October 1944, the Volkssturm was a last ditch effort of the Nazis to call all men (aged 16 to 60 years old) to fight against the invading Allied forces in the final stages of the war. Poorly armed and inadequately equipped, the Volkssturm answered not to the Wehrmacht leadership but instead to Himmler in his capacity as the commander of the Reserve Army. Primarily engaged against the Red Army along Germany's eastern corridor, over 175,000 members of this ragtag military auxiliary were killed in action. Historian Martin Kitchen describes the establishment of the Volkssturm as a "pathetic affair."[28] Against the advancing Russian, Canadian, American, and British forces, members of the Volkssturm (mainly young and old men, with little training) were expected to use handheld anti-tank weapons and small arms in the fight alongside the remaining Wehrmacht soldiers in repulsing the onslaught. Even if they were to prove unsuccessful, the Volkssturm was to set a shining example to future generations by fighting to the 'last man and the last bullet' for the Fatherland; as if these efforts would somehow expunge the surrender of 1918.[29]
  • Vorbunker – (the upper bunker) or "forward bunker" was located behind the large reception hall of the old Reich Chancellery in Berlin. It was meant to be a temporary air-raid shelter for Adolf Hitler and was officially called the "Reich Chancellery Air-Raid Shelter" until 1943 and the expansion of the complex with the Führerbunker.
  • Vorsicht Hochspannung Lebensgefahr – Typical warning message on signs affixed to electrified fences around concentration camps, labor camps, and death camps. Essentially: "watch out high voltage life-danger."

W

X

  • X-Gerät – (X equipment) radio-navigational equipment used in German bombers.
  • X-Zeit – (X time) zero hour

Y

Z

  • Z-Plan (or Plan Z) was the name given to the re-equipment and expansion of the Kriegsmarine (Nazi German Navy) as ordered by Adolf Hitler on 27 January 1939. The plan called for 10 battleships, four aircraft carriers, three battlecruisers, eight heavy cruisers, 44 light cruisers, 68 destroyers and 249 U-boats by 1944 that was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom. The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 came far too early to implement the plan.
  • Zählappell – (counting roll call) a roll call used at prisons and concentration camps to account for the inmate's presence and to psychologically harass them.
  • Heer
    ) Army High Command (OKH) located approximately 20 miles west of Berlin in Zossen, Germany.
  • Zwangsarbeiter – A forced-laborer, a slave-laborer.
  • Zwangswirtschaft –
    Nazi-era forced-labor
    or compulsion economy.
  • Zwischenstaatliche Vertretertagungen – interstate meetings of representatives; DNSAP and NSDAP party congresses of the early years; first one held in Salzburg, Austria.
  • Zyklon B Also spelled Cyclon B – tradename of a cyanide-based insecticide used to kill more than one million Jews, Roma, communists, and prisoners of war in Nazi gas chambers.

List of abbreviations and acronyms

See the glossary above for full explanations of the terms.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Berenbaum, Michael (1 January 2014). "T4 Program". Britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780195066227
    .
  3. ^ Hitler, Mein Kampf, Zwei Bände in einem Band, S. 742.
  4. ^ Heinrich August Winkler (2000). Der lange Weg nach Westen. Deutsche Geschichte vom "Dritten Reich" bis zur Wiedervereinigung, München: C.H. Beck, p. 4.
  5. ^ Frost, Natasha (12 April 2018). "The Forgotten Nazi History of 'One-Pot Meals'". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. ^ It is important to note that the term "Holocaust", although it had been used before (for instance by Richard of Devizes in his Chronicon written in 1192), was not of common usage among the general public until after the appearance of the Holocaust TV miniseries in 1978. For example, William Shirer's 1961 book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich does not mention the word "Holocaust".
  7. ^ See:Alexander Perry Biddiscombe, Werwolf!: The History of the National Socialist Guerrilla Movement, 1944–1946 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998), pp. 290–291.
  8. ISBN 0-674-01842-7
    .
  9. ^ Michael & Doerr 2002, p. 217.
  10. ^ Gellately (2007). Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe, p. 13.
  11. ^ Waddington (2008). Hitler's Crusade: Bolshevism and the Myth of the International Jewish Conspiracy, p. 8.
  12. ^ Fredrickson (2009). Racism: A Short History, p. 118
  13. ^ Schmitz-Berning 2007, pp. 326ff.
  14. ^ a b c Michael & Doerr 2002, p. 225.
  15. ^ Michael & Doerr 2002, p. 226.
  16. ^ Walk 1996, p. 344.
  17. ^ See: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-picturesque-bavarian-town-shows-that-germany-isn-t-confronting-its-nazi-past-1.8227524
  18. ^ Review the following article by Anton Posset: http://www.buergervereinigung-landsberg.org/english/historicalfacts/dp_camp.htm See also: http://www.landsberger-zeitgeschichte.de/Geschichte/dplager/dp_lagerengl.htm
  19. ^ Langbein 2004, p. 405.
  20. ^ Report on Eastern Europe. 1991. Vol. 2, issues 40–52. Munich: RFE/RL, Incorporated, p. 12.
  21. ^ Gruner, Wolf. 2015. Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. In: Wolf Grüner & Jörg Osterloh (eds.), The Greater German Reich and the Jews: Nazi Persecution Policies in the Annexed Territories 1935–1945, pp. 99–135. Transl. Bernard Heise. New York: Berghahn, p. 103.
  22. ISBN 9780520222908.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  23. ^ Stein, George. (1984). The Waffen-SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War 1939–1945, p. 297.
  24. ^ Friedlander, Henry (1995). The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia To The Final Solution. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 81.
  25. ISBN 978-0-300-11575-8
    .
  26. ^ "Is Survival Victory Enough? The Man In The High Castle: Season Two ..." Tor.com. December 20, 2016.
  27. ^ "The Man in the High Castle Season-Finale Recap: The Greater Good". Vulture. December 19, 2016.
  28. ^ Kitchen 1994, pp. 33–34.
  29. ^ Bernd Wagner, "Hitler, der Zweite Weltkrieg und die Choreographie des Untergangs," Geschichte und Gesellschaft, vol. xxvi (2000), no. 3, pp. 492–518.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links
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