Anschluss, "Joining together," annexation. On March 12, 1938,
Hitler annexed Austria to Germany
Antisemitism, Systematic prejudice against Jews. Notice the absence
of a hyphen (-); there has never been any such thing as "Semitism."
The term "antisemitism" is, properly one word.
Aryan, In the Nazi ideology, the pure, superior Germanic (Nordic,
Caucasian) race.
Auschwitz, The city of Auschwitz, Poland, located in southwestern
Poland, was the site of one of the largest of the Nazi extermination
camps. The camp was expanded in August, 1942. Camp II was named
Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Babi Yar, A deep ravine outsize the Ukrainian city of Kiev, on the
Dnieper River where the Einsatzgruppen killed and buried 34,000 Jews
in one or two days (September 29-30, 1941).
Belzek, Death Camp located in the Lublin District of Poland. More
than 600,000 Jews were gassed at Belzek between 1941 and 1943.
Blitzkrieg, "lightning war," used to describe the speed, efficiency
and intensity of Germany's military attack against their opponents.
Buchenwald, concentration camp established in 1937 between Frankfurt
and Leipzig in Germany. While it was primarily a work camp in the
German concentration camp system and not a major extermination
center, thousands died there from exposure, over-work and execution.
Bund, a socialist movement among Jews in the Pale of Settlement in
western Russia in the late 1800's. The Bundists supported Jewish
linguistic and political autonomy. Their nationalism was cultural
rather than territorial and, thus, they were at odds with much of the
Zionist movement,
Capo, Jews who worked inside the death camps. Their tasks including
transporting victims of gassing to the ovens, cleaning the gas
chambers of human excrement and blood, removal of gold from the teeth
of the victims, shaving the heads of those going to the gas chambers.
Chelmo, generally thought to be the first of the six death camps in
Poland to become operational. At the beginning, the camp was under
the direction of SS Major, Christian Wirth, formerly administrative
head of the Euthanasie Programme. Located in the Wartheland. Between
December 1941 and fall 1942 and again from May until August 1944
gassings by means of carbon monoxide from motor exhaust gas took
place. Altogether more than 150,000 Jews as well as 5000 gypsies died
at Chelmo.
Concentration Camp, Any internment camp for holding "enemies of the
Third Reich." The construction of concentration camps began almost
immediately after Hitler gained power in Germany. There were several
kinds: labor camps, prison camps and death camps.
Dachau,a concentration camp located in Upper Bavaria, northeast of
Munich. In 1942 a gas chamber was established at in connection with
the medical experiments of the chief company commander of SS Dr.
Rascher also a few experimental gassings were undertaken.
Death Camps, or Killing Centers, a concentration camp the distinct
purpose of which was the extermination of its inmates. Almost all of
the German death camps were located in Poland: Auschwitz-Birkenau,
Belzek, Chelmo, Madjanek, Sobibor, Treblinka.
Death Marches, At the end of the war when it became obvious that the
German army was trapped between the Soviets to the east and the
advancing Allied troops from the west, the Nazis, in an attempt to
prevent the liberation of camp inmates, forced them to march westward.
Thousands died in these marches.
Deportation, the removal of people from their areas of residency for
purposes of resettlement elsewhere. With regard to the Jews of
Europe, deportation meant removal either to a ghetto or a
concentration camp in preparation for yet another removal to an
extermination center.
Einsatzgruppen, Mobile killing units ("task groups") under the
command of Reinhard Heydrich which accompanied German Troops when they
invaded Russia. Their task was to dispose of, liquidate, undesirables
who posed a threat to the Reich.
Final Solution, Euphemism for the extermination of European Jewry.
fuhrerprinzip, See "leadership Principle."
General Government The Nazi-ruled state in central and eastern
Poland. Headed by Governor Hans Frank.
Genocide, the systematic annihilation of a whole people or nation.
German Military Rank Provided by Richard Breitman in The Architect
of Genocide: Himmler and the Final Solution. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1991
Oberstgruppenfuehrer General
Obergruppenfuehrer Lt. General
Gruppenfuehrer Major General
Brigadefuehrer Brigadier General
Oberfuehrer between Brigadier & Colonel
Standartenfuehrer Colonel
Obersturmbannfuehrer Lt. Colonel
Sturmbannfuehrer Major
Hauptsturmfuehrer Captain
Obersturmfuehrer 1st. Lieutenant
Unterscharfuehrer Corporal
Rottenfuehrer Private, First Class
Sturmann Private
SS-Mann No equivalent in U.S. military
Gestapo, the German internal security police - secret police. The
Gestapo was organized in 1933 to protect the regime from political
opposition. Under Himmler's command after 1936.
Ghetto, a Yiddish word referring to a walled section of a city in
which Jews were required to live during the Middle Ages. The concept
was revived by the Nazi regime as part of the Final Solution to the
Jewish Question.
Holocaust, a Hebrew word (olah) meaning "burnt offering.
In the Septuagint version (translated Hebrew Bible into Greek during
the reign of Ptolemy II, 3rd century B.C.), the word, olah, is
consistently translated by the Greek word, holokauston, "an offering
consumed by fire."
Juden, The German word for Jew.
Judenrat, Jewish community authority, appointed by the Nazis for
administration within the ghetto.
Kristallnacht, "Night of broken glass," November 9, 1938, pogrom
against German Jews, Jewish businesses and synagogues orchestrated by
the Gestapo in retaliation for the assassination of a minor German
embassy official in Paris by a 17 year-old Jewish youth named Herchel
Grynzspan. 7,500 businesses and 101 synagogues were destroyed, almost
100 Jews were killed and several thousand were arrested and sent to
concentration camps. The beginning of the Holocaust.
Leadership Principle, Ger. fuhrerprinzip, the ideological
and administrative principle established by Hitler early in his rise
to power of one vital party controlled by one, and only one, leader
to whom all subjects owed absolute and unquestioning obedience.
Lebensraum, one of Hitler's motivations for invading Poland
and, later, the Soviet Union, was to acquire lebensraum, or
additional "living space," to be colonized by German people.
Madagascar Plan, in 1940, before the invasion of the Soviet Union,
the Nazis seriously considered moving all Jews under their authority
to the island of Madagascar, a French possession off the east coast
of AAfrica.
Majdanek, located in the Lublin district, general government of
Poland. The concentration camp existing since September 1941 turned
into an extermination camp when between April 1942 and November 1943
mass shootings took place to which 24,000 Jews fell victim. In October
1942 also two, later three gas chambers were built. In the beginning
the killings in these were done by means of carbon monoxide. Later
Zyclon B was implemented. Up until the dissolution of the camp in
March 1944 about 50,000 Jews have been gassed. The camp was closed in
1944 after a major inmate riot occurred and several inmates escaped.
Nazi, National Socialist German Workers' Party - the political party
which emerged in Munich after World War I. The party was taken over
by Adolph Hitler in the early 1920's. He created the SA (Storm
Troopers, also known as "Brownshirts") in 1921 and chose the swastika
as the party's symbol.
Nuremberg, a city in Germany where the Reichstag met in September,
1935 to promulgate the Nuremberg Laws. A decade later, an
International Military Tribunal convened there to hold trials of Nazis
accused of War Crimes in connection with the Holocaust.
Operation Barbarossa, the military code name for Nazi Germany's
invasion of the Soviet Union. The invasion began in June, 1941.
Operation Reinhard, the code name for the entire process of building
extermination camps, deportation of Jews first to ghettos, then to the
camps for extermination and incineration. The Operation was named for
Rinehard Heydrich.
Pink Triangle The Nazi concentration camps developed a system of
badges to be worn by inmates depending on why they were imprisoned.
Those convicted of sexual deviance, primarily homosexuality, were
required to wear a pink triangle. Jews were required to wear the
yellow Star of David. Purple designated Jehovah's Witnesses, red for
political criminals, black for asocials, including the Roma, and green
for criminals.
Pogrom, A Russian word meaning devastation used to describe
an organized, systematic discriminatory action against Jews.
Reichstag, the German Parliament under the Weimar Constitution. It
was purely ornamental during Hitler's dictatorship.
SD, Sicherheitsdienst - The SS Security Service Sonderkommandos.
SS, originally Hitler's elite guard. Under Himmler's leadership,
the SS was in charge of the death camps.
Shoah, a Hebrew word meaning "Desolation." Shoah has come to be the
preferred term for the Holocaust by Jewish scholars who feel that
"Holocaust" has lost much of its significance through overuse.
Sobibor, located in the Lublin District, general government)
received in April 1942, three, later in September 1942 six gas
chambers and until October 1943 it was "in operation". During this
period at least 200,000 Jews were murdered through carbon monoxide
gas.
Third Reich, Nazi Germany from the end of the Weimar Republic to the
end of World War II.
Treblinka, located in the Warschau District of the general
government in eastern Poland. From the end of July, 1942 on,
Treblinka had three gas chambers and at the beginning of September,
1942, installed ten larger gas chambers. Up to the dissolution of the
camp in November 1943 altogether 700,000 Jews were killed there by
carbon monoxide.
Vichy, France, after the Nazis conquered France, a puppet government
was set up here.
Wannsee (Conference, a conference held on January 20, 1942 beside
Lake Wannsee in Berlin. At this conference it was decided and made
official Nazi policy that the total annihilation of European Jews was
the only rational means of a "Final Solution" to the Jewish Question.
Yad Vashem, a museum in Jerusalem dedicated to the memory of
Holocaust victims. The name of the Museum is taken from an Old
Testament passage in Isaiah: "I will build for them a name and a
memorial." (Isiah 56:5).
Zionism- The fervent desire of Jews of the Diaspora to return
to their ancestral homeland of Palestine. This ideal is at least
2,500 years old, dating to the Babylonian Captivity. Its first
statement is found in Psalm 137:1, "By the waters of Babylon, there
we sat down and wept as we remembered Zion. Political Zionism which
emerged in the 19th century and ultimately resulted in the creation
of the modern state of Israel in 1948 is an outgrowth of spiritual
Zionism.
Zyklon B, hydrogen cyanide, a poisonous gas originally developed as
a fumigation agent to remove pesticides. In October, 1941, it was
used experimentally on Soviet prisoners of war. The success of these
experiments had devastating consequences for millions of Jews who were
gassed in the Nazi death camps.
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