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Glossary of Holocaust Terms
|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z|
A
Allies
The nations fighting Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during World War II, primarily the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.

Anschlus
The German annexation of Austria in March 1938.

anti-Semitism
Dislike or hatred of the Jews.

Arbeit Macht Frei
"Work makes you free"; emblazoned on the gates at Auschwitz and many concentration camps.  Intended to deceive prisoners.

Aryan
Term used by the Nazis to describe northern European physical characteristics (such as blonde hair and blue eyes) as racially "superior".

Auschwitz
A large complex of three camps.  Auschwitz I was the main concentration camp; Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, was the death camp where more than 1.6 million perished; and Auschwitz III, or Buna-Monowitz, was a huge slave labor camp.

Axis
The Axis powers, originally Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, extended to Japan when it entered the war.
B
Babi Yar
A large ravine near Kiev where over 100,000 Jews were shot and buried in a mass grave over a two-day period.

Belzec
A death camp located in southeastern Poland.  Between 550,000 and 600,000 Jews were killed there.

Buchenwald
A large concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, opened in 1937.
C
Chelmno
The first death camp to use gassing.

Concentration Camp
The general term applied to prison camps implemented by the Nazis, located in Germany and throughout Nazi-occupied Europe.  Camps served various functions, including extermination, slave labor, and transit.

Crematoria
Ovens built in concentration camps to burn and dispose of the large number of bodies after murder by gassing, malnutrition, or harsh conditions.
D
Dachau
The "model" camp located outside Munich, Germany.  It opened in March 1933, shortly after Hitler came to power.  Initially, it held Communists and other political prisoners.
E
Einsatzgruppen
Mobile death squads of the SS that followed the German army into the Soviet Union, executing Jewish and slavic residents.  Many were shot and buried in mass graves.

Extermination Camp
Six major camps were designed and built for the sole purpose of killing.  These were: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka.
F
Final Solution
Term used by the Nazis to describe their plan to murder the entire Jewish population of Europe.  Originated at the Wansee Conference.

Fuhrer
The German word roughly translates as "leader."  It was used in reference to Hitler.
G
Gas Chambers
Large, sealed rooms (usually with shower nozzles) used for murdering prisoners.  Many went into gas chambers with the belief they were entering 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 with several families in an apartment, separated from the rest of the city by walls or wire fences.
H
Holocaust
Term first used in the late 1950s 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
Jew
Any person identifying themselves with the Jewish community as a follower of the Jewish religion or culture.

Judenrat
Jewish councils set up by the Nazis to maintain order within the ghettos and carry out the orders of the German army.

Judenrein
Translated from German to "Cleansed of Jews."  It was the German expression for Hitler's plan to rid Europe of Jews.
K
Kapo
Overseer of work duties at concentration camps, usually a criminal from within the camp.

Krakow Ghetto
This ghetto, in Krakow, Poland, is where Oskar Schindler gave factory jobs to the remaining Jews, saving them from deportation in March 1943.

Kristallnacht
The "Night of Broken Glass" during which Jews and Jewish institutions were attacked throughout Germany and Austria.  The state supported terroristic action (pogrom) took place on November 9-10, 1938.
L
Lodz Ghetto
Located in Lodz, Poland, this was the second largest ghetto established by the Nazis.  More than 150,000 Jews were imprisoned here until they were ultimately sent to Chelmno or Auschwitz to their deaths.
M
Majdanek
Located near Lublin, Poland, this was one of the six death camps established by the Nazis.  More than 360,000 people were shot, beaten, starved, or gassed to death.

Mauthausen
Located near Linz, Austria, this was a notorious concentration and slave labor camp.  It was known for the cruelty of its guards and the debilitating hard labor in its quarry.

Mein Kampf
Hitler's autobiography, written in 1925, in which he outlined his ideas, beliefs, and plans for the future of Germany.

Mischling
A derogatory German term meaning "mongrel."  It was used to denote people having both Christian and Jewish ancestors.
N
Nazi
The popular name for members of the NSDAP, National Socialist Democratic Workers Party, who believed in the idea of Aryan supremacy.

Nuremberg Laws
Anti-Jewish laws enacted in 1935; they included denial of German citizenship to those of Jewish heritage and segregated them from German society; also established "degrees" of Jewishness based on family lines.
P
Partisans
Underground fighters against the Nazi regime, generally operating from Russia, Poland, and Lithuania.

Pogrom
An organized, state sponsored attack on a group of people.
S
SA
Storm Troopers, or the terrorist branch of the Nazi army, formed in 1923 to secure Hitler’s rise to power.

Scrip
Paper currency or tokens used as evidence that the bearer was entitled to receive something in return.  Holocaust Museum Houston's archives houses the largest collection of ghetto and camp scrip in the world.

Shoah
The Hebrew word for the Holocaust.

Shtetl
A Yiddish word meaning a Jewish village.

SS
Schutzstaffel; the German army’s elite guard, organized to serve as Hitler’s personal protectors and to administer the concentration camps.

Swastika
Used as the official symbol of the Nazis, once an ancient symbol used to ward off evil spirits.
T
Theresienstadt
Located near Prague, Czechoslovakia, this was the German name for the walled city of Terezin.  It served as a concentration and transit camp for German and western European Jews who were sent on to Auschwitz.

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.
U
Untermenschen
A German word meaning "sub-humans." It was used by the Nazis to refer to any group deemed undesirable.
V
Volkisch
This was a movement in Germany that believed in the superiority of the Germanic race.  The group feared and hated foreigners, particularly Jews.
W
Wanssee Conference
Conference of high-ranking German government officials, military officers, and Nazi leaders.  Held in the Berlin suburb of Wanssee to plan the total destruction of European Jews.

Warsaw Ghetto
Located in Warsaw, Poland, this was the largest ghetto established by the Germans, housing almost 500,000 Jews at its peak.  Conditions were horrific and residents died by the thousands from disease and starvation.
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