Terms related to the Holocaust...
A
Allies: During World War II, the group of nations including the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the Free French, who joined in the war against Germany and other Axis countries. Antisemitism: Opposition to and discrimination against Jews. Aryan: A term for peoples speaking the language of Europe and India. In Nazi racial theory, a person of pure German "blood." The term "non-Aryan" was used to designate Jews, part-Jews and others of supposedly inferior racial stock. Assimilation: The process of becoming incorporated into mainstream society. Axis: Germany, Italy, and Japan, signatories to a pact signed in Berlin on September 27, 1940, to divide the world into their spheres of respective political interest. They were later joined by Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. B Blitzkrieg: Meaning "lightning war," Hitler's offensive tactic using a combination of armored attack and air assault.B'richa: The organized and illegal mass movement of Jews throughout Europe following World War II. British White Paper of 1939: British policy of restricting immigration of Jews to Palestine. Bund: The Jewish Socialist Party founded in 1897. It aspired to equal rights for the Jewish population. During World War II the Bund was active in the underground resistance and some Bund members were also part of some Judenrat councils. They took part in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. C Chancellor: Chief (prime) minister of Germany. Collaboration: Cooperation between citizens of a country and its occupiers. Communism: A concept or system of society in which the collective community shares ownership in resources and the means of production. In theory, such societies provide for equal sharing of all work, according to ability, and all benefits, according to need. In 1848, Karl Marx, in collaboration with Friedrich Engels, published the Communist Manifesto which provided the theoretical impetus for the Russian Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. Concentration Camp:mps in which Jews were imprisoned by the Nazis, located in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe. There were three different kinds of camps: transit, labor and extermination. Many prisoners in concentration camps died within months of arriving from violence or starvation. Crematorium: Ovens built in concentration camps to burn and dispose of the large number of murdered bodies E Einsatzgruppen: Mobile death squad of the SS that followed the German army, executing Jewish residents as the squad moved through the Soviet Union; victims were shot and buried in mass graves. Evian Conference: A meeting of delegates from some 32 countries in the summer of 1938 that met at the French summer resort to discuss the refugee problem caused by Nazi persecution of Jews. Few countries were willing to open their doors, giving a clear message to Adolf Hitler as to the true feelings of many foreign countries toward the Jews. Extermination Camp: Six major camps designed and built for the sole purpose of killing Jews. These were Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka. F Final Solution: Term used by the Nazis to describe their plan to annihilate the entire Jewish population of Europe. Fuhrer: German word for "leader," it was adopted by Adolf Hitler as his title after Hindenburg’s death. G Gas Chambers: Large, sealed rooms used for murdering prisoners of concentration camps; many people were led into gas chambers thinking they were going in to take a shower. Gestapo: The secret state police of the German army, organized to stamp out any political opposition. Ghetto: A section of a city where Jews were forced to live, usually separated from the rest of the city by walls or wire fences, and used primarily as a station for gathering Jews for deportation to concentration camps Gypsies: An ethnic group made up of two main groups: Roma and Sinti. They were persecuted for their lifestyle and belif H Hollerith Machine: A machine developed to make the taking of the census easier. Nazis used it to gather data on Jews living in Germany, Austria and later Czechoslovakia. Holocaust: The term used to describe the systematic torture and murder of approximately six million European Jews and millions of other "undesirables" by the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. J Jews: Persons identifying themselves with the Jewish community or as followers of the Jewish religion or culture. K Kapo: A prisoner in a camp who is put in a position to oversee work duties in that camp. Kristallnacht: “Night of Broken Glass,” occured in Germany and Austria resulting in destruction against hundreds of synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses, homes and Jews themselves. M Mein Kampf: Hitler’s autobiography in which he outlined his ideas, beliefs and plans for the future of Germany. Mischlinge: A negative Nazi term meaning "mongrel" referring to people having both Christian and Jewish ancestors. N Nazi: The name for members of the NSDAP, National Socialist Democratic Workers Party, who believed in the idea of Aryan supremacy. Night and Fog: German term for political prisoners from western Europe who disappeared without leaving a trace. Nuremberg Laws: Anti-Jewish laws enacted in 1935; included denial of German citizenship to those of Jewish heritage and segregation of them from German society; also established “degrees of Jewishness" based on family lines. P Partisans: Groups of organized guerilla fighters who aimed to damage the German war effort by attacking military targets, often using the forest for cover. Pogrom: An organized, state-sponsored attack on a group of people. S SA Sturmabteilungen or storm troopers: the terrorist branch of the Nazi army. Shoah: The Hebrew word for Holocaust Shtetl: Small towns and villages in Poland and Russia that were made up mostly of Jews. SS Schutzstaffel: the German army’s elite guard, organized to serve as Hitler’s personal protectors and to administer the concentration camps. Swastika:Once an ancient symbol used to ward off evil spirits, the Nazis adopted it as their official symbol. T Third Reich: The Third Empire; name given to the Nazi regime in Germany; Hitler boasted that the Third Reich would reign for 1,000 years. V Versailles Treaty: Peace treaty ending the First World War, creating many of the issues of bitterness between European countries and, especially, a feeling of resentment by Germans. Volkisch: A movement in Germany that believed in the superiority of the Germanic race. The group feared and hated foreigners, particularly Jews. W Wagner-Rogers Bill: A bill to admit some 20,000 Jewish children to the United States. The bill was killed by the efforts of some of the antisemitic factions in the U.S. State Department, as well as the fear by some Jewish leaders that pressing this bill would create antisemitic backlash in the United States. Wansee Conference: Conference of high-ranking German officers, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, to finalize plans for the destruction of European Jews. Warsaw Ghetto:Largest ghetto in Poland covering 100 square blocks where approximately 500,000 Jews were contained from 1939 until May 1943. Weimar Republic:The new democratically elected government in Germany following the end of World War I. White Rose Movement:A group of young German students who protested against the Nazi treatment of Jews and others. Most of the members of this group were eventually rounded up and executed. Y Yellow Badge: Distinctive sign which, by Nazi order, was compulsorily worn by Jews. Yiddish: Language spoken by many Jews in Eastern Europe; a combination of German, Hebrew and dialects of the countries in which Jews were living. Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement and a time for repenting and fasting for Jews Z Zyklon B: A chemical developed as an insecticide, the pellets of which were shaken down an opening in the euphemistically called “shower rooms,” or gas chambers. The Nazis found this to be a quicker, cheaper and more reliable method of mass killing than carbon monox |
This video is a short illustration of some common words, pictures, and definitions associate with the Holocaust
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