Holocaust Dictionary

Among the readily available lists of defined terms about the Holocaust, very few are comprehensive. Most of them only include those that serve the mission of the product or information in which the terms and definitions are mentioned.

This dictionary, a combination of six such lists, attempts to go beyond singular sources for all students of the Holocaust, regardless of level of education. It also contains select terms about genocide beyond the Holocaust. The numbers behind each definition correspond to their sources, in sequence as presented in the definition when more than one and are listed at the end. All information was current in April 2024.

Very minor edits to the definitions were made for readability, especially when one definition here came from more than one source elsewhere. In most instances, all attempts were made to keep the definitions as true as possible to their source, if not verbatim. The very few points of obvious commentary (for clarity or emphasis) are mine. The mistakes are also mine. Please take a moment and bring them to my attention.

A Holocaust Dictionary: Collected Holocaust and Related Terms with Selected Camps

Aktion: Operation involving the mass assembly, deportation, and murder of Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust. 3

Allies: The nations fighting Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during World War II, primarily Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States. 2

Anschluss: Annexation of Austria by Germany on March 13, 1938. 3

Anti-Israel Bias: Extreme and/or illegitimate criticism of Israel, including false accusations directed against Israel, often with the aim of delegitimizing the country. Anti-Israel bias does not include legitimate criticism of the Israeli government, its policies, or its politicians. 1

Antisemitism: Hostility toward or hatred of Jews as a religious or ethnic group, often accompanied by social, economic, or political discrimination. 4

Apartheid: “Apartness”; a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race in South Africa until the early 1990s. 1

Appell: The roll call of prisoners in camps that could take hours. Prisoners were forced to stand outside in all types of weather, usually without proper clothing. These were called for by the commandant of the camp in order to account for all prisoners and/or of the prisoners to witness special punishments or deaths of their fellow prisoners. 2

Appellplatz: German word for roll call square where prisoners were forced to assemble. 4

Arbeit Macht Frei: “Work makes you free.” Emblazoned on the gates at Auschwitz and was intended to deceive prisoners about the camp’s function. 2

Armed Resistance: Acts of opposition, defiance, or sabotage using weapons, including battles, attacks, or guerrilla strikes. 1

Armenian Genocide: From 1915- 1923, an estimated 1-1,500,000 Armenians were murdered or died through mass executions, deportation marches, forced starvation, and other brutalities by order of a nationalist elite party ruling the Ottoman Empire. 1

Aryan/Aryan Race: Term used in Nazi Germany to refer to non-Jewish and non-Roma (Gypsy) Caucasians who spoke the language of Europe and India. Northern Europeans with Nordic features such as blonde hair and blue eyes were considered by so-called race scientists to be the most superior of Aryans, members of a master race, and of pure German blood. Aryans wished to avoid what they considered the bastardization of the German race and to preserve its purity. The term "non-Aryan" was used to designate Jews, part-Jews, and others of supposedly inferior racial stock. 3, 6, 4

Assimilation: The process of becoming incorporated into mainstream society. Strict observance of Jewish laws and customs pertaining to dress, food, and religious holidays tends to keep Jewish people separate and distinct from the culture of the country within which they are living. Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86), a German Jew, was one of the key people working for the assimilation of the Jews in the German cultural community. 6

Auschwitz (also Auschwitz I or Main Camp): The largest camp complex of its kind, located in German-occupied Poland. It consisted of three camps and a killing center. It opened in phases in 1940 to 1942 and was liberated by the Soviet army in 1945. Over 1.1 million died or were killed in the Auschwitz complex of camps. The Auschwitz complex included many subcamps in the region around the Main Camp. Auschwitz was the only location where prisoners received tattoos. 4

Auschwitz-Birkenau (also Auschwitz II): The killing center under the Auschwitz camp, located two miles from the Main Camp. 4

Auschwitz III (also Monowitz): A concentration camp about four miles from the Main Camp. 4

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. 6

Babi Yar: A ravine near Kiev where almost 34,000 Jews were killed by German soldiers in two days in September 1941. 2

Bar-Mitzvah/Bat-Mitzvah (bar = male, bat = female): A term referring to a religious "coming of age" in Judaism, when a Jewish boy or girl turns thirteen. On this day, the Bar/Bat Mitzvah leads the congregation in the service and rightfully enters the congregation as an equal member. 6

Battle of the Bulge: A major German offensive launched through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front towards the end of World War II. 1

BDS Movement: A global effort to isolate and punish Israel because of its perceived policies toward the Palestinians. While supporters of the BDS movement claim to embrace the tactic as a nonviolent way to pressure Israel into negotiations, such campaign efforts actually demonize Israel and place the entire onus of the conflict on one side: the Israelis. BDS activists regularly lobby multinational companies, churches, universities, actors, academics, and private individuals to cut ties with Israel or to refuse to engage in collaboration with Israelis. 1

Beer Hall Putsch: On November 8, 1923, Hitler, with the help of SA troops and German World War I hero General Erich Ludendorff, launched a failed coup attempt in Bavaria at a meeting of Bavarian officials in a beer hall. 5

Belzec: The second killing center set up by the Nazis was the first of three set up under Operation Reinhard. Belzec started murdering Jews in gas chambers using carbon monoxide from diesel engines in March of 1942. By the end of the year, at the end of its operation, about 434,500 Jews were murdered at Belzec. 4

Bergen-Belsen: A Nazi concentration camp located in northern Germany that was established in 1943. Although this camp was originally designated for persons who were slated to be exchanged with German nationals in Allied countries, only a few of the Jews who were brought to Bergen-Belsen were actually set free by the Germans. 1

Bermuda Conference: A conference convened by the United States and Great Britain on April 19, 1943, ostensibly to find solutions for wartime refugees. In fact, it marked the high point of efforts by officials in both nations to thwart a move for more effective action to rescue European Jewry. 1

Bias: Prejudice in favor of or against a person or group. 1

Blitzkrieg: Meaning "lightning war," Hitler's offensive tactic using a combination of ground attack and air assault. 6

Blood Libel: An allegation, recurring during the thirteenth through sixteenth centuries, that Jews were killing Christian children to use their blood for the ritual of making unleavened bread (matzah). A red mold, that can look like blood, which occasionally appeared on the bread started this myth. Jews were accused of defiling the Host, the sacred bread used in the Eucharist ritual, with blood. This allegation was used as the reason for a series of antisemitic attacks. 6

Brecha (also B’richa): The organized and illegal mass movement of Jews throughout Europe following World War II. 5

British Mandate/British Mandatory Palestine: In 1920, the Council of the League of Nations appointed Britain as the mandatory power entrusted with the administration of the Land of Israel. The borders of the land, as a separate country, were defined for the first time in many centuries. The territory of the British Mandate included land on both sides of the Jordan River, encompassing the present-day countries of Israel and Jordan. About 77% of this Mandate was east of the Jordan River, and in 1921, Great Britain created there a separate administrative entity called Transjordan. The changed mandate took effect in 1923. 1

British White Paper of 1939: British policy of restricting immigration of Jews to Palestine. 5

Brown Shirts: See SA.

Buchenwald: A concentration camp established in 1937 near Weimar, Germany. While it was primarily a labor camp in the German concentration camp system and not an extermination center, thousands died there from exposure, over-work, and execution. Many Jews from other camps were forcibly marched there by the Nazis in early 1945. 1

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. 6

Bystander: One who is present at an event or who knows about its occurrence without participating in it. 1

Cambodian Genocide: From 1975-1979, an estimated 1.5-3.0 million people-probably around 1.8 million, about a quarter of the population—were killed in a systematic campaign of mass murder organized by the Cambodian government at that time, known as the Khmer Rouge. 1

Canada: The name given to the storage buildings by the prisoners who worked in them. These buildings held the clothing and other possessions of those Jews who had just arrived into the extermination camps and were usually gassed shortly afterward. Much of the most valuable items were stolen by guards or went to the remaining ghettos to be repaired in the workshops there. 2

Caricature: A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features are exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect. 1

Chancellor: Chief (prime) minister of Germany. 6

Chelmno: The first stationary facility established to use poison gas for the mass murder of Jews. This killing center was in operation from December 1941 to March 1943 and for a brief period in early summer of 1944. 172,000 people were murdered at Chelmo. 4

Collaboration: Cooperation between citizens of a country and its occupiers. 6

Collaborator: Those who work jointly; in the context of war, it is often those who cooperate traitorously with an enemy that is occupying one's country. 1

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. 6

Concentration Camp: The Nazis established camps immediately when they came to power on January 30, 1933, to detain and, if necessary, kill so-called enemies of the state, including Jews, Gypsies, political and religious opponents, members of national resistance movements, homosexuals, and others. Imprisonment in a concentration camp was of unlimited duration, was not linked to a specific act, and was not subject to any judicial review. In addition to concentration camps, the Nazi regime ran several other kinds of camps including labor camps, transit camps, prisoner-of-war camps, and killing centers. Beginning in 1938, Jews were targeted for internment solely because they were Jews. Before then, only Jews who fit one of the earlier categories were interned in camps. The first three concentration camps established were Dachau (near Munich), Buchenwald (near Weimar) and Sachsenhausen (near Berlin). Concentration camps were prisons used without regard to accepted norms of arrest and detention. They were an essential part of Nazi systematic oppression. Death, disease, starvation, crowded and unsanitary conditions, and torture were a daily part of concentration camps. 3, 2, 5, 4

Contemporary Antisemitism/New Antisemitism: A term used to describe a modern-day form of antisemitism that has developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and manifests itself in anti-Zionism and opposition to the State of Israel. 1

Crematorium/Crematoria: Ovens built in concentration camps to burn and dispose of the large number of murdered bodies. 2

Crimes Against Humanity: Acts of persecution against a group or groups so heinous as to warrant punishment under international law. The term was first used in the preamble of the Hague Convention of 1907 and subsequently used during the Nuremberg Trials as a charge for actions during World War II—actions that did not violate a specific treaty but were deemed to require punishment. 1

Criminal Police (also Kripo): German police detective force responsible for investigating non-political crimes. 4

Cultural Resistance: Acts of opposition that are usually related to cultural traditions and the preservation of human dignity, intended to undermine an oppressor and inspire hope within the ranks of the resistors. 1

Curfew: A requirement that residents of a community be in their homes by a particular time. 1

CUP (Committee of Union and Progress): The Committee for Union and Progress (CUP), the leading Turkish nationalist party of the Young Turks, gained absolute control of the Ottoman Empire in 1913. They spread an ideology of “Pan-Turkism,” a radical form of nationalism, which supported a centralized Turkish state and left no room for minorities, including the Armenians. 1

Dachau: The first regular concentration camp established by the Nazis in Germany in early 1933, as announced by Heinrich Himmler on March 20, 1933. It was near Munich in Bavaria. By war’s end, approximately 200,000 people were imprisoned in Dachau. Estimations of those killed or died there are around 40,000. 4, 1

Death Camps: See Extermination Camps.

Death Marches: Forced marches of prisoners over long distances and under intolerable conditions was another way victims of the Third Reich were killed. The prisoners, guarded heavily, were treated brutally and many died from mistreatment or were shot. Prisoners were transferred from one ghetto or concentration camp to another ghetto or concentration camp or to a death camp. 6

Degenerate art: Art which did not fit the Nazi ideal. 6

Dehumanization: As a political or social measure, dehumanization is intended to change the manner in which a person or group of people are perceived, reducing the target group to objects or beings not worthy of human rights. 1

Deicide: The killing (or killer) of a god. 1

Delegitimization: The act of weakening, destroying, or denying the status or authority of someone or something. 1

Democracy: A system of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. 1

Demonization/to Demonize: The act of making a person or group seem like they are evil or threatening. 1

Deport/Deportation: Removal of people from their areas of residency for purposes of resettlement elsewhere. With regard to the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust, deportation by the Nazis meant removal to another city, ghetto, concentration camp, or extermination center. 1

Desecrating the Host: See Blood Libel.

Diaspora: From the Greek word meaning dispersion, the term dates to 556 B.C.E. when Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Judeans to Babylonia and refers to the Jewish communities outside Israel. 6

Discrimination: The denial of justice and fair treatment by both individuals and institutions in many arenas, including employment, education, housing, banking, and political rights. Discrimination is an action that can follow prejudicial thinking. 1

Displaced Person: The upheavals of war left millions of soldiers and civilians far from home. Millions of DPs had been eastern European slave laborers for the Nazis. The tens of thousands of Jewish survivors of Nazi camps either could not or did not want to return to their former homes in Germany or eastern Europe, and many lived in special DP camps while awaiting migration to America or Palestine. 6

Displaced Persons Act of 1948: Law passed by U.S. Congress limiting the number of Jewish displaced persons who could emigrate to the United States. The law contained antisemitic elements, eventually eliminated in 1950. 5

Displaced Persons’ Camp (DP camp): Camps set up after World War II in Austria, Germany, and Italy as temporary living quarters for the tens of thousands of homeless people created by the war. Many survivors of the Holocaust who had no home or country to which they could return were among the displaced persons. 1

Displacement: The process, either official or unofficial, of people being involuntarily moved from their homes because of war, government policies, or other societal actions, requiring groups of people to find new places to live. Displacement is a recurring theme in the history of the Jewish people. 6

Double Standard: A rule, code, policy, or standard that is unfairly applied to different people or groups in different ways. 1

DP: See Displaced Person.

Eichman Trial: Adolf Eichmann, SS Lieutenant-colonel and head of the "Jewish Section" of the SD, was arrested at the end of World War II in the American zone, but escaped, went underground, and disappeared. 1. Additional info added in March 2026 and courtesy of the National WWII Museum's website, written by Dr. Sean Scanlon: Eichmann was captured while in hiding in Buenos Aires in May of 1960. He was brought to justice. Eyewitness testimony at his trial was critical and was provided by many Holocaust survivors, more so than the initial set of post-war trials at Nuremberg. Many of the film clips of the trial, including several segments of the survivors' testimonies, were broadcast by news outlets across the world. This was the first time that the general public writ large heard from victims and this had the added impact of indirectly encouraging Holocaust survivors to tell their stories from that point onward.

Einsatzgruppen: Mobile units of the German Security Police and SD augmented by Order Police and Waffen-SS personnel. These units followed the German army as it invaded the nations of central and eastern Europe. Their duties included the arrest or murder of political opponents and potential resistance. In Poland in 1939, these units were assigned to shoot Polish intellectuals and to concentrate the Jewish population into large cities. Later, battalion-sized, mobile killing units of the Security Police and SS Security Service followed the German armies into the Soviet Union in June 1941. These units were supported by units of the uniformed German Order Police and auxiliaries of volunteers (Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian). Their victims, primarily Jews, were executed by shooting and were buried in mass graves from which they were later exhumed and burned to cover the evidence. At least a million Jews were killed in this manner. There were four Einsatzgruppen (A, B, C, D) which were subdivided into company-sized (about 120 people) Einsatzkommandos. 3, 5, 4

European Jewry: Over 9.5 million European (including the Soviet Union) Jews in the pre-World War II period. By 1948, there were only an estimated 3.7 million Jews remaining in Europe. 1

Euthanasia: The original meaning of this term was an easy and painless death for the terminally ill; euthanasia literally means ‘good death.’ However, the Nazi euthanasia program took on quite a different meaning and became a euphemism for taking eugenic measures to improve the quality of the German race. The euthanasia program began in 1939, with German non-Jews as the first victims. The program culminated in forced mercy deaths without consent of victims or their families of the incurably insane, permanently disabled, deformed, superfluous, and other handicapped people in institutions. Three major classifications were developed: euthanasia for incurables, direct extermination by special treatment, and experiments in mass sterilization. 3, 6, 4

Evian Conference: Conference convened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in July of 1938 to discuss the problem of Jewish refugees caused by Nazi persecution of Jews. Thirty-two countries met at Evian-les-Bains, France. However, not much was accomplished since most western countries were reluctant to accept Jewish refugees. 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. 2, 3

Extermination Camps: Nazi camps for the mass killing of Jews and others (e.g. Gypsies, Russian prisoners-of-war, ill prisoners). Known as "death camps," these included Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka. All were located in occupied Poland. About 2.7 million Jews were murdered by asphyxiation with poison gas or by shooting. Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek supplied labor as a secondary purpose. The sole purpose of Belzec, Chelmno, Sobibor, and Treblinka was mass murder. 3, 4

Fascism: A social and political ideology with the primary guiding principle that the state or nation, and often race, is the highest priority, rather than personal or individual freedoms; a centralized totalitarian state headed by a charismatic leader, expansion of the nation, (preferably by military force), forcible suppression, and sometimes physical annihilation of opponents both real and perceived. 6, 4

Final Solution, also 'the final solution to the Jewish question in Europe:' A Nazi euphemism for the plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe. It was the cover name for the plan and was often disguised as ‘resettlement in the East.’ 3, 6

Fuhrer: German word for “leader,” it was adopted by Adolf Hitler as his title after Hindenburg’s death. 2

Gas chambers: Large chambers, sealed rooms, with shower nozzles, in which people were led with the belief that they were going to take a shower but were executed by poison gas. These were built and used in Nazi death camps. 2, 6

Generalgouvernement (General Government): An administrative unit established by the Germans on October 26, 1939, consisting of those parts of Poland that had not been incorporated into the Third Reich. It included the districts of Warsaw, Krakow, Radom, Lublin, and Lvov. Hans Frank was appointed Governor-General. The Germans destroyed the Polish cultural and scientific institutions and viewed the Polish population as a potential work force. 6

Genocide: The deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, cultural, or religious group. The United Nations defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, including killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about a physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. 6, 1

Genocide in Rwanda (Genocide Against the Tutsi): From April – July 1994, at least 800,000 Rwandans lost their lives in a campaign of deliberate, state-organized mass murder now referred to as the fastest genocide in modern history. The genocide targeted the Tutsi population (approximately 14% of the population) of the country, a social group that came to be defined as an ethnic group, even though they shared language, culture, and land with their killers, the Hutu. 1

Gentile: Someone who is not of the Jewish faith; most often referring to a Christian. 1

German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei): As the precursor to the Nazi Party, Hitler joined the right-wing Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP) in 1919. The party espoused national pride, militarism, a commitment to the Volk, and a racially pure Germany. 5

Gestapo: Acronym for Geheime Staatspolizei, meaning Secret State Police, under SS control. Prior to the outbreak of war, the Gestapo used brutal methods to investigate and suppress resistance to Nazi rule within Germany. After 1939, the Gestapo expanded its operations into Nazi-occupied Europe and was responsible for investigating political crimes and opposition activities. 5, 4

Ghetto: The first use of the term “ghetto” for a section of a city in which Jews lived was in Venice, Italy, in 1516. The Nazis revived the medieval term to describe their device of concentration and control, the compulsory "Jewish Quarter." Their primary purpose was to serve as a station for gathering Jews for deportation to camps. Ghettos were usually established in the poor sections of a city, where most of the Jews from the city and surrounding areas were subsequently forced to reside, usually with several families living in one house. Often surrounded by barbed wire or walls, the ghettos were sealed. Established mostly in eastern Europe (e.g., Lodz, Warsaw, Vilna, Riga, or Minsk), the ghettos were characterized by overcrowding, malnutrition, and heavy labor. All were eventually dissolved or destroyed as the Jews were deported to death camps/killing centers. 2, 3, 5, 4

Great Depression: The economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in the United States in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s; a worldwide economic downturn resulted. 1

Gypsy: See Roma.

Harassment: The act of annoying persistently; creating an unpleasant or hostile situation especially by uninvited or unwelcome verbal or physical conduct. 1

Hasid: From the word meaning “pious”, someone who belongs to a sub-group within ultra-Orthodox Judaism that arose in Eastern Europe in the 1700s as a spiritual revival movement stressing religious devotion and joy through prayer. The term “Hasidic” refers to this movement, its traditions, religious observance, and way of life. 1

Hate Group: A group whose worldview is based significantly on strong intolerance or hatred of a certain group(s) of people based on race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. Hate groups usually, but not always, claim superiority to those whom they oppose. They often advocate separation: removing themselves from the presence of the people they hate, or removing the people they hate from their presence. They sometimes advocate elimination: killing those people whom they hate. 1

Hate Speech: Speech intended to offend, threaten, or insult an individual or group based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits. 1

Havdalah: The service marking the end of Shabbat (Sabbath) on Saturday at sunset. 2

Hierarchy: A system in which people or things are arranged according to their importance. 1

Hitler Youth/Hitler Jugend: A Nazi youth auxiliary group established in 1926. It expanded during the Third Reich. Membership was compulsory after 1939. It emphasized physical training, Nazi ideology, and absolute obedience to Hitler and the Nazi Party. Youth were subject to intensive propaganda regarding racial and national superiority. 5, 1

Hollerith Machine: A machine developed to make the taking of the census much more efficient. The one used by the Nazis was developed by the German branch of IBM. Adolf Eichmann used it to gather data on Jews living in Germany, Austria, and later Czechoslovakia. 2

Holocaust: The state-sponsored systematic persecution and destruction of some six million Jews by the Nazis and their followers in Europe between the years 1933-1945. Other individuals and groups were persecuted and suffered grievously during this period, but only the Jews, the primary victims, were marked for complete annihilation. The term "Holocaust" - literally meaning "a completely burned sacrifice" - tends to suggest a sacrificial connotation to what occurred. The word Shoah, originally a Biblical term meaning widespread disaster, is the modern Hebrew equivalent. 3, 4

Holocaust Denial/Holocaust Distortion: An antisemitic belief that the Holocaust never happened or that minimizes or trivializes it. 1

Ideology: Ideology is a set of shared beliefs or a system of ideas that organizes one’s goals, expectations, and actions. Ideologies can have positive or negative influences on a society. For example, feminism is an ideology that advocates rights and equality for women; and Nazism was an ideology that promoted harmful racist and nationalist views. 1

International Military Tribunal: The United States, Great Britain, France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics charted this court to prosecute Nazi war criminals. 6

Jehovah's Witnesses: Religious sect that originated in the United States and had about 20,000 members in Germany in 1933. Their religious beliefs did not allow them to swear allegiance to any worldly power making them enemies of the Nazi state. They wore a purple triangle in the camps. 5, 1

Jewish Badge: A distinctive sign which Jews were compelled to wear in Nazi Germany and in Nazi-occupied countries. It often took the form of a yellow star of David (see also). 3

Jews: Persons identifying themselves with the Jewish community or as followers of the Jewish religion or culture. 2

Judaism: The monotheistic religion of the Jews, based on the precepts of the Old Testament and the teachings and commentaries of the Rabbis as found chiefly in the Talmud. 6

Judenrat: Council of Jewish representatives in communities and ghettos set up by the Nazis to carry out their instructions. 3

Judenrein: “Cleansed of Jews,” a German expression for Hitler’s plan to rid Europe of Jews. Also referred to in some contexts as areas where all Jews had been murdered or deported. 3, 2

Kaddish: Jewish prayer for the dead. 2

Kapo: Derived from the Italian word for head, it was a concentration camp inmate appointed by the SS to be in charge of a work gang or block. Many are remembered negatively. 2, 5

Kiddish: Sanctification, blessing over wine. 2

Killing centers: See Extermination Camps.

Kindertransport: A program which allowed, after much negotiations, and with heavy fees attached, for Jewish children to be sent from Germany, Austria, and parts of Czechoslovakia to Great Britain. Many of these children were housed with foster families and not all of the experiences were positive. Others were housed in castles in the countryside. Many of these children, especially the girls, do not remember the experience with great affection since they were anxious to hear news of parents left behind. 2

Kippah: The skull cap worn by Jewish men. A Kippah is worn to symbolize that man exists only from his Kippah down; God exists above the Kippah. 6

Khmer Rouge: A group that started in the 1960s as the armed wing of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia). Led by the dictator Pol Pot, their goal was to establish a classless, agricultural state that completely rejected capitalism and was based on communal living by eliminating anyone they deemed urban, intellectual, a minority, or anyone deemed to be corrupted by outside influences. 1

Knesset: The Israeli parliament. 1

Kommando: German word for a detachment, such as a detachment of concentration camp prisoners at forced labor. 4

Kosher: Food that is permissible to eat under Jewish dietary laws; can also describe any other ritual object that is fit for use according to Jewish law. 1

Kristallnacht: Also known as The Night of the Broken Glass. On this night, November 9, 1938, throughout Germany and Austria, almost 200 synagogues were destroyed, over 8,000 Jewish shops were sacked and looted, other Jewish institutions were burned, and tens of thousands of Jews were removed to concentration camps. This pogrom received its name because of the great value of glass that was smashed during this anti-Jewish riot. The excuse for this action was the assassination of Ernst vom Rath in Paris by a Jewish teenager whose parents had been rounded up by the Nazis. 3, 6

League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel): Female counterpart of the Hitler Youth formed in 1927 but not formerly integrated by Hitler until 1932. 5

Lebensraum: Meaning "living space," it was a basic principle of Nazi foreign policy. Hitler believed that eastern Europe had to be conquered to create a vast German empire for more physical space, a greater population, and new territory to supply food and raw materials. It was his excuse for the taking over of territories for the superior Aryan peoples. 2, 6

Liberator/Liberation: The process of one army driving an occupying army out of an occupied territory. Holocaust survivors and citizens of occupied Europe used the word "liberation" to refer to the moment they were freed from Nazi control. Individuals and/or nations involved in the liberation are referred to as "liberators." 1

Liquidated: A Nazi euphemism for destroying a ghetto and its inhabitants by conducting massive deportations to concentration and extermination camps, or by murdering Jews on the outskirts of town. 1

Lodz Ghetto: On February 8, 1940, German orders decreed the establishment of the Lodz ghetto, and on April 30, 1940, the ghetto was sealed. 1

Madagascar Plan: A Nazi policy that was seriously considered during the late 1930s and 1940s which would have sent Jews to Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. At that time Madagascar was a French colony. Ultimately, it was considered impractical, and the plan was abandoned. 6

Majdanek (also Lublin/Majdanek): Established in 1941 as a labor camp, gas chambers are constructed there in late 1942 into 1943 to kill prisoners no longer able to work. On November 3, 1943, 18,000 Jews were killed adjacent to the camp, the largest single-day, single-location massacre during the Holocaust. In almost three years of operation, between 95,000 and 130,000 people died or were killed in the Majdanek system, most of them Jews. 4

Mauthausen: Mauthausen was a concentration camp for women and men in the province of Upper Austria. The camp was located in the vicinity of the villages of Mauthausen and Marbach near the Wiener Graben stone quarry. The camp opened in early August 1938 and was liberated in May 1945 by the United States military. Mauthausen had more than 20 satellite camps. Approximately 200,000 prisoners passed through Mauthausen during its existence as a camp. 1

Mein Kampf: This autobiographical book (‘My Struggle’) by Adolf Hitler was written while he was imprisoned in the Landsberg fortress after the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. It was the ideological base for the Nazi Party's racist beliefs and murderous practices. In this book, Hitler propounds his ideas, beliefs, and plans for the future of Germany. Everything, including his foreign policy, is permeated by his racial ideology. The Germans, belonging to the superior Aryan race, have a right to living space (lebensraum) in the East, which is inhabited by the inferior Slavs. Throughout, he accuses Jews of being the source of all evil, equating them with Bolshevism and, at the same time, with international capitalism. Except for his admirers, people who read the book did not take it seriously and considered it the ravings of a maniac. 3, 6

Mezuzah: A religious object on the door frame of Jewish homes or synagogues to sanctify them. 2

Mischlinge: Derogatory Nazi term meaning “mongrel” that denoted people having both Christian and Jewish ancestors. 2

Mitzvahmits: Hebrew word meaning "a good deed." 6

Mizrah: Means sunrise or east; a decorated plate hung on the eastern wall of a house or synagogue to indicate the direction of Jerusalem. 2

Molotov Cocktail: A makeshift bomb made of a breakable container, filled with flammable liquid, and provided with a rag wick that is lighted just before being hurled. 1

Muselman (variant musselmann): German term meaning "Muslim," used by concentration camp prisoners to refer to inmates who were on the verge of death from starvation, exhaustion, and despair. A person who reached the muselman stage had little, if any, chance for survival and usually died within weeks. It was also a slang word for a prisoner who had given up fighting for life. The origin of the term is unclear. 3, 5

Napolas: Elite schools for training the future government and military leadership of the Nazi state. 6

National Socialist Women's Association: The NS Frauenschaft was an organization intended to recruit an elite group of women for the Nazis. 6

National Socialist Teachers' Association: Established in 1929, it assumed responsibility for the ideological indoctrination of teachers in Germany. 6

Nationalism: A movement, as in the arts, based on the folk idioms, history, aspirations, and similar components of a nation. 6

Nazi: Name for members of the National Socialist Democratic Workers Party who believed in the idea of Aryan supremacy. 2

Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers' Party): The Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP was founded in Germany on January 5, 1919. It was characterized by a centralist and authoritarian structure. Its platform was based on militaristic, racial, antisemitic, and nationalistic policies. Nazi Party membership and political power grew dramatically in the 1930s, partly based on political propaganda, mass rallies and demonstrations. 5

Nazi Racial Ideology: The Nazi system of beliefs, based on a racial view of the world. According to Nazi ideology, the Nordic Aryan Germans were the "master race." Other races were inferior to them, and the Jews were considered to be the "anti-race," the exact opposite of the Germans, and an evil and destructive race. Germans were said to be the natural rulers of the world and, in order to achieve that position, influence of the Jews needed to be ended. Thus, racial antisemitism and solving the so-called "Jewish Question" lay at the heart of Nazi ideology, as did the desire for more territory or Lebensraum (living space). 1

Neo-Nazis: Groups that share a hatred for Jews and a love for Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany; while they also hate other minorities, gays, and lesbians and even sometimes Christians, they perceive “the Jew” as their cardinal enemy. 1 via the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Night and Fog: German term for political prisoners from western Europe who disappeared without leaving a trace. Secret order issued by Hitler on December 7, 1941, to seize "persons endangering German security" who were to vanish without a trace into night and fog. 3, 2

Night of the Long Knives: On June 30, 1934, Hitler murderously purged the ranks of the SA. 6

Nuremberg Laws: Two anti-Jewish statutes enacted September 1935 during the Nazi party's national convention in Nuremberg. The first, the Reich Citizenship Law, deprived German Jews of their citizenship and all pertinent, related rights. The second, the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor, outlawed marriages of Jews and non-Jews, forbade Jews from employing German females of childbearing age, and prohibited Jews from displaying the German flag. Many additional regulations were attached to the two main statutes, which provided the basis for removing Jews from all spheres of German political, social, and economic life. The Nuremberg Laws carefully established definitions of Jewishness based on bloodlines. Thus, many Germans of mixed ancestry, called "Mischlinge," faced antisemitic discrimination if they had a Jewish grandparent. 3

Nuremberg Trials: Trials of 22 major Nazi figures in Nuremberg, Germany in 1945 and 1946 before the International Military Tribunal, followed by 11 other trials before a more limited tribunal. 5, 6

Occupation: The invasion, conquest, and control of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces. 1

Oneg Shabbat Archive: Literally "joy of the Sabbath," Oneg Shabbat was the codename for a secret collection of documents gathered in the Warsaw ghetto during the German occupation. Led by Jewish historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, a group of historians, rabbis, social workers, and others chronicled Jewish life in the ghetto so that their memory would be preserved. The archive was developed from September 1939 to January 1943. Just before the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the documents were hidden in metal boxes and milk cans and buried in three locations. Two of the three collections were unearthed in 1946 and 1950, but the third has never been found. The 6,000 documents (35,000 pages) that were discovered are housed in the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. 1

Operation Barbarossa: The German code name for Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union which began on June 22, 1941. 6

Operation Reinhard (or Aktion Reinhard): The code name for the plan to destroy the millions of Jews in the General Government in Poland, within the framework of the Final Solution. It began in October 1941, with the deportation of Jews from ghettos to extermination camps. The three extermination camps established under Operation Reinhard were Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka. It has four essential purposes: (1) mass murder of Jews residing in the General Government, (2) exploitation of labor of a minority of Jews permitted to survive temporarily, (3) seizure, evaluation, and recycling for use all personal property taken from the murdered Jews, and (4) identification and securing of all so-called hidden assets of the Jewish population. 6, 4

Oppression: The act of governing or exerting control over people in cruel and unfair ways that deny them freedom and equal opportunity. 1

Ordnungspolizei (Order Police; Orpo): Regular uniformed German police force. Central Headquarters were in Berlin. Municipal Police (Schutzpolizei) served as the urban police forces. Gendarmerie, or rural police, served in the countryside. There were also larger units of Order Police called Police Battalions. 4

Pale of Settlement: The area in the western part of the Russian Empire in which Russian Jews were allowed to live from 1835-1917. 6

Palestine: The Roman term for what is now Israel; the name used by the British during World War II to denote the area they held under a League of Nations mandate. 1

Partisans: Irregular troops engaged in organized guerrilla/secret warfare, often behind enemy lines, who aimed to damage the German war effort. They attacked military targets and often used the forests for cover. They also assisted Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis, mostly in Nazi-occupied countries. Most of them were Soviets. 2, 3, 5

Passover: The Jewish holiday that commemorates the Jew's liberation from slavery in Egypt. The holiday, which lasts for eight days, requires all Jews to place themselves spiritually in the shoes of their ancestors and remember the era of bondage in order to never allow such oppression to happen again. 6

Perpetrator: Someone who does something that is morally wrong or criminal. 1

Persecution: Unfair or abusive treatment of an individual or group over a period of time; a campaign to subjugate, expel, or exterminate a group of people based on their religion, race, ethnicity, or other aspect of their identity. 1

Pogrom: An organized, state-sponsored attack on a group of people. In World War II, pogroms were officially encouraged massacres of Jews. The word is derived from two Russian words that mean "thunder." 2, 5

Porrajmos: A Romani (gypsy) term referring to the Holocaust: "the devouring." 5

Potsdam Conference: A meeting held in Potsdam (Germany) in the summer of 1945 where Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill drew up plans for the administration of Germany and Poland after World War II ended. 1

Prejudice: A judgment or opinion formed before the facts are known. In most cases, these opinions are founded on suspicion, intolerance, and the irrational hatred of other races, religions, creeds, or nationalities. 6

Preventive Arrest (Vorbeugungshaft): Instrument of detention that permitted criminal police detectives to take persons suspected of engaging in criminal activities into custody without warrant or judicial review of any kind. Preventive arrest usually meant indefinite internment in a concentration camp. 4

Profiteer: A pejorative term for a person, company, or institution that makes a profit excessively, unethically, or both. 1

Propaganda: False or partly false information used by a government or political party intended to sway the opinions of the population. 6

Protective Detention (Schutzhaft): Instrument of detention that permitted secret state police detectives to take persons suspected of pursuing activities hostile to state interests into custody without warrant or judicial review of any kind. Protective custody View This Term in the Glossary most often meant indefinite internment in a concentration camp. 4

Protectorate: Any state/territory protected and partially controlled by a stronger one. 6

Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A major piece of antisemitic propaganda, compiled at the turn of the century by members of the Russian Secret Police. Essentially adapted from a nineteenth century French polemical satire directed against Emperor Napoleon III, substituting Jewish leaders, the Protocols maintained that Jews were plotting world dominion by setting Christian against Christian, corrupting Christian morals, and attempting to destroy the economic and political viability of the West. It gained great popularity after World War I and was translated into many languages, encouraging antisemitism in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. Long repudiated as an absurd and hateful lie, the book currently has been reprinted and is widely distributed by Neo-Nazis and others who are committed to the destruction of the State of Israel. 3

Purim: A holiday commemorating when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from a plan to annihilate them. During this joyous holiday, it is customary to read the Book of Esther, parade in costume, give charity to the poor, send friends bags of goodies, and partake in a festive meal. 1

Rabbi: Leader of a Jewish congregation, similar to the role of a priest or minister. 6

Racism: The practice of discrimination, segregation, persecution, and domination of a group based on that group's race. 1

Red Army: the army of the Soviet Union. 4

Refugee: One who flees or is deported in search of safety, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution. 1

Reich: The official name of the Nazi regime; ruled from 1933 to 1945 under the command of Adolf Hitler. Historically, the First Reich was the medieval Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. The Second Reich included the German Empire from 1871-1918. 1

Reich Commissariat Ostland: a German civilian occupation region that included the Baltic States and most of Belarus. 4

Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt; RSHA): Headquarters of the Commander of the Security Police and SD. Included the central offices of the Gestapo, the Kripo, and the SD. Commanded by Reinhard Heydrich and, later, Ernst Kaltenbrunner. 4

Reichskammern: Reich government departments. 6

Reichstag: The German Parliament. On February 27, 1933, a staged fire burned the Reichstag building. A month later, on March 23, 1933, the Reichstag approved the Enabling Act which gave Hitler unlimited dictatorial power. 6

Resettlement: German euphemism for the deportation of prisoners to killing centers in Poland. 6

Resistance: Generally, action of an individual, nation, or group in opposition to those in power. More specifically, efforts by Jews and others to oppose persecution at the hands of the Nazis and their partners. 1

Return to Life: A term referring to how Holocaust survivors began to rebuild their lives following the Holocaust. 1

Revisionists: Those who deny that the Holocaust ever happened. 6

Righteous Among Nations, also known as Righteous Gentiles: Non-Jewish people who, during the Holocaust, risked their lives to save Jewish people from Nazi persecution. Today, a field of trees planted in their honor at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Israel, commemorates their courage and compassion. 6

Roma/Gypsies/Sinti: A nomadic people, believed to have come originally from northwest India, from where they immigrated to Persia by the fourteenth century. Roma first appeared in Western Europe in the 15th century. By the 16th century, they had spread throughout Europe, where they were persecuted almost as relentlessly as the Jews. They became divided into five main groups still extant today. Gypsy is the collective term for Roma and Sinti. They were considered enemies of the state by the Nazis and persecuted relentlessly. The Roma occupied a special place in Nazi racist theories. It is believed that approximately 500,000 perished during the Holocaust. 3, 5, 4

Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year begins the High Holy Days and a time of reflection and soul searching. 2

RTLM: A Rwandan radio station that was influential in spreading propaganda and hate speech, inciting the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. 1

SA (Sturmabteilung or Storm Troopers): Also known as "Brown Shirts," they were the Nazi party's main instrument for undermining democracy and facilitating Adolf Hitler's rise to power. The SA was the predominant terrorizing arm of the Nazi party from 1923 until The Night of the Long Knives in 1934. They continued to exist throughout the Third Reich but were of lesser political significance after 1934. 5

Sabbath: In Judaism, a weekly day of rest, spirituality, and celebration commemorating the creation of the universe – the seventh day, when God rested, as described in the Bible. It begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. No work is permitted, except that connected with worship or the preservation of health. Instead, traditional Jews pray, study, and spend time with family. 1

Scapegoat: Person or group of people blamed for crimes committed by others. 6

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. 2

SD (Sicherheitsdienst, or Security Service): The SS security and intelligence service established in 1931 under Reinhard Heydrich. 6

Second Reich: The Second Reich, known as the Hohenzollern Empire, began with the unification of Germany following the Franco-Prussian War (1870 - 1871) and the crowning of Wilhelm I as German Emperor, and ended with the abdication of Wilhelm II in 1919 following German defeat in World War I. 1

Segregate: The act of setting apart, isolating, or dividing from the rest or from each other. 1

Selection: Euphemism for the process of choosing victims for the gas chambers in the Nazi camps by separating them from those considered fit to work. 3

Shabbat: The Sabbath day, beginning at sunset on Friday and ending at sunset on Saturday. 2

Shoah: The Hebrew word for Holocaust, meaning catastrophe, denoting the catastrophic destruction of European Jewry during World War II. The term is used in Israel, and the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) has designated an official day, called Yom ha-Shoah, as a day of commemorating the Shoah or Holocaust. 2, 5

Shtetl: Small towns and villages in Poland and Russia that were made up mostly of Jews. The Yiddish word for “small town.” Generally, shtetls were small market towns with large Jewish populations in Central and Eastern Europe during the 18th to 20th centuries. The Jews had their own communal life that revolved around religious traditions. Poverty in the shtetls was common, and Jews often worked in crafts and as peddlers. The shtetl had a tightly knit Jewish community that played an important role in supporting its needy members. This way of life was completely destroyed in the Holocaust. 2, 1

Shull: Yiddish word for synagogue, or Jewish house of prayer. 6

Siddur: The Hebrew name for the Jewish prayerbook. 6

Sinti: See Roma

Sobibor: This killing center, the second of three established under Operation Reinhard, started regular gassing operations in May of 1942 and continued until mid-October of 1943. About 167,000 people were murdered here. 4

Social Darwinism: A concept based on the idea of "survival of the fittest." Based on that, m, Nazis created a pseudo-scientific brand of racism which was most virulent when directed against the Jews, but others, particularly Slavs, were not exempt. 6

Socialism: A theory or system of social organization that advocates the ownership and control of land, capital, industry, and so on by the community as a whole. In Marxist theory it represents the stage following capitalism in a state transforming to communism. 6

Sonderkommando (Special Squad): SS or Einsatzgruppe detachment. The term also refers to the Jewish slave labor units in extermination camps that removed the bodies of those gassed for cremation or burial. In this context, Sonderkommandos consisted of those prisoners selected to remain alive as forced laborers to facilitate the killing process, particularly the disposal of corpses. 6, 4

Spiritual Resistance: Acts of resistance aimed at preserving human dignity in the dehumanizing conditions of the ghettos and camps. 1

SS: German abbreviation for Schutzstaffel (literally, protection squads or Defense Protective Units), usually written with two lightning symbols. It was a paramilitary formation of the Nazi party initially created in 1925 to serve as bodyguards to Hitler and other Nazi leaders. The SS was transformed (starting in 1929) into a giant organization by Heinrich Himmler that became the most powerful affiliated organization of the Nazi party. It later took charge of political intelligence gathering, the German police and the central security apparatus, the concentration camps, and the systematic mass murder of Jews and other victims. It was the basis of the Nazi police state and the major instrument of the racial terror. 3, 5, 4

St. Louis: The steamship St. Louis was a refugee ship that left Hamburg in the spring of 1939, bound for Cuba. When the ship arrived, only 22 of the 1128 refugees were allowed to disembark. Initially no country, including the United States, was willing to accept the others. The ship finally returned to Europe where most of the refugees were finally granted entry into England, Holland, France, and Belgium. 3

Star of David: A six-pointed star which is a symbol of Judaism. During the Holocaust, Jews throughout Europe were required to wear Stars of David on their sleeves or fronts and backs of their shirts and jackets. 6

Stereotype: An oversimplified generalization about a person or group of people without regard for individual differences. Even seemingly positive stereotypes that link a person or group to a specific positive trait can have negative consequences. 1

Stormtroopers: See SA.

Sturmer (Der Sturmer, The Attacker): An antisemitic German weekly periodical, founded and edited by Julius Streicher, which was published in Nuremberg between 1923 and 1945. 3

Sudetenland: Formerly Austrian German-speaking territories in Bohemia which were incorporated into Czechoslovakia after World War I. 5

Survivor: Within the context of the Holocaust, a survivor is someone who escaped death at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators. 1

Swastika: Once an ancient symbol used to ward off evil spirits, the Nazis adopted it as their official symbol. 2

Synagogue: Jewish house of worship and learning, similar to a church. 6, 4

Synod: Church council. 2

T-4 Program: The euthanasia program directed against the physically and mentally handicapped persons who were considered useless in the new German Reich. The T-4 program served as the training ground for methods of mass murder that would later be used in the death camps, such as gassings and cremation of bodies. 2

Tallis: Jewish prayer shawl with fringes on four sides. These fringes represent the four corners of the world and symbolize God's omnipresence. 5

Tefilin: Small boxes containing four scriptural passages worn during daily morning prayers, except on Sabbaths and festivals. 2

Theresienstadt: A ghetto in Theresienstadt (Terezin), a town in Northwestern Czechoslovakia, where the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia, elderly Jews, and persons of "special merit" in the Reich, and several thousand Jews from the Netherlands and Denmark were interned. Although in practice the ghetto, run by the SS, served as a transit camp for Jews in route to extermination camps, it was also presented as a "model Jewish settlement" for propaganda purposes. 1

Third Reich, also called the Greater German Reich: Meaning third regime or empire, the Nazi designation of Germany and its regime from 1933-45. Historically, the First Reich was the medieval Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. The Second Reich included the German Empire from 1871-1918. Hitler boasted that the Third Reich would reign for 1,000 years and consisted of an expanded Germany that was intended to include all German speaking peoples. It was one of Hitler's most important aims. After the conquest of most of Western Europe during World War II, it became a reality for a short time. 2, 3, 6

Torah: A scroll containing the five books of Moses, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. 2, 6

Treblinka: The term Treblinka is usually associated with the third of three killing centers under Operation Reinhard. However, Treblinka I was a forced labor camp and Treblinka II was the actual killing center. From mid-1942 to fall of 1943, about 925,000 Jews were murdered at Treblinka along with an unknown number of Poles, Roma, and Soviet prisoners of war. 4

Umschlagplatz: A collection point, a square in the Warsaw ghetto, where freight trains were loaded and unloaded. During the deportation from the Warsaw ghetto, it was used as an assembly point where Jews were loaded onto cattle cars to be taken to Treblinka. It literally means "transfer point." 3, 6

Underground: Any resistance organization devoted to undermining or overthrowing a government in power. 1

United Nations: An international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue and cooperation. 1

Untermenschen: German word meaning “sub-humans,” used by Nazis to refer to the groups they deemed “undesirable.” 2

Upper Silesia: an area that Nazi Germany annexed in 1939 after invading and conquering Poland. 4

V-E Day (Victory in Europe): The public holiday celebrated on May 7/8, 1945, to mark the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, ending the war in Europe. 1

Versailles Treaty: Peace treaty ending the WWI, creating many of the issues of bitterness between European countries and, especially, a feeling of resentment by Germans. The United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy negotiated the treaty at the Peace Conference held in Versailles beginning on January 18, 1919. The German Republic government which replaced the imperial administration was excluded from the deliberations. The treaty created the Covenant of the League of Nations, outlined Germany's disarmament, exacted massive reparation payments from Germany, and forced Germany to cede large tracts of territory to various European nation-states. 2, 6

Vichy: A government set up by the Nazis after they conquered France in spring 1940, with its capital in the town of Vichy, in the southern part of France. 1

Victim: One who has been physically or emotionally harmed by another. 1

Visual history testimony: As defined by 5 Shoah Foundation, visual history testimony is a videotaped account of one person's experiences of life before, during, and after the Holocaust. Visual history testimony offers a deeper understanding of these events as they were lived, filtered through the reflections of one person. 1

Volk: The concept of Volk (people, nation, or race) has been an underlying idea in German history since the early nineteenth century. Inherent in the name was a feeling of superiority of German culture and the idea of a universal mission for the German people. 6

Volkisch: This was a movement in Germany that believed in the superiority of the Germanic race. The group feared and hated foreigners, particularly Jews. 2

Waffen-SS: Militarized units of the SS. 5

Wagner-Rogers Bill: The 1939 Wagner-Rogers Bills (identical bills in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate) proposed admitting 20,000 German refugee children under the age of fourteen to the United States over a two-year period outside of immigration quotas. Due to lack of support, the bills were withdrawn and never voted on by the U.S. Congress. 1

Wannsee Conference: Held on the Wannsee lake near Berlin on January 20, 1942, by SS official, Reinhard Heydrich, and attended by many high-ranking Nazis, it was the where the systematic execution of the Final Solution was discussed, coordinated, and planned. 3, 5

War Crimes Trial: A trial of a punishable offense during war time by a person or persons, military or civilian. Under international law, war crimes are offenses that fail to adhere to the norms of procedure and rules of battle, including mistreatment of prisoners of war or attacking those displaying a flag of truce. 1

Warsaw Ghetto: The Warsaw ghetto was officially established on October 2, 1940, and sealed on November 16, 1940. At one point, the ghetto held over 450,000 Jews. The first wave of mass deportations took place between July 22, 1942, and September 12, 1942. 1

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The Warsaw ghetto uprising was an act of Jewish resistance that occurred from April 19 to May 16, 1943. The armed revolt began after German troops entered the ghetto to deport Jewish residents to the Majdanek and Treblinka extermination camps. The uprising ended after German forces brought in heavy artillery and set fire to the ghetto. The surviving Jewish residents were deported to concentration camps and killing centers. The revolt in Warsaw was the largest uprising by Jews during World War II and inspired other revolts in ghettos and camps throughout German-occupied Europe. 1

Wehrmacht: The combined armed forces of Germany from 1935-1945. 5

Weimar Republic: The German republic, an experiment in democracy (1919-1933), was established after the end of World War I, following the collapse of Imperial Germany and preceding Nazi rule. The constitution was drafted in the town of Weimar, hence the name. 5, 4.

White Nationalism: A form of white supremacy that emphasizes defining a country or region by white racial identity and which seeks to promote the interests of whites exclusively, typically at the expense of people of other backgrounds. 1

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. 2

White Supremacist: An individual or group who believes that whites should have dominance over people of other backgrounds; whites should live by themselves in a whites-only society; white “culture” is superior to other cultures; and/or that white people are genetically superior to other people. 1

Wimple: Made from swaddling cloth, embroidered with child’s name, birthday, and a blessing; used to wrap the Torah scroll on boy’s first trip to synagogue with his father. 2

Xenophobia: A fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners. 1

Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem. The name Yad Vashem is taken from an Old Testament passage: “And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name ('yad vashem' in Hebrew) …that shall not be cut off." (Isaiah 56:5). 1

Yellow star of David: a badge featuring the Star of David (a symbol of Judaism) used by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust as a method of visibly identifying Jews. 4

Yiddish: Language spoken by many Jews in Eastern Europe; a combination of German, Hebrew, and dialects of the countries in which Jews were living. 2

Yom Kippur: Day of Atonement and a time for repenting and fasting. 2

Z.O.B.: The Jewish Fighting Organization that led the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. 1

Zionism: Political and cultural movement calling for the return of the Jewish people to their Biblical home; advocating an independent Jewish state in the Land of Israel. 6, 1.

Zyklon B: A chemical developed as an insecticide (hydrogen cyanide), 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 monoxide. 2, 6

Sources:

1: Echoes and Reflections.

Echoes & Reflections (echoesandreflections.org)

Educator Resource: Lesson Plans.

Copyright 2005-2024.

2: Holocaust Museum Houston.

Vocabulary Terms Related To The Holocaust - Holocaust Museum Houston (hmh.org)

Copyright 2024.

3: Jewish Virtual Library.

Holocaust Glossary (jewishvirtuallibrary.org)

As borrowed from The Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Copyright 1995.

4: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Glossary | Holocaust Encyclopedia (ushmm.org)

Holocaust Encyclopedia.

Copyright 2024.

5: University of California, Santa Barbara.

UCSB Oral History Project.

Holocaust Glossary (ucsb.edu)

Copyright 2003.

6: University of South Florida.

Holocaust Glossary (fcit.usf.edu)

College of Education.

Copyright 2005.