Glossary of Terms
This helpful glossary of terminology is to help understand what some of the words used on this site mean. Also a help for English speakers understanding the German words that are present throughout World War 2 history.
Altreich - Literally translates as “old state”, Term used to described the German borders that existed before the takeover of Austria.
Anti-semitism - The belief held by Hitler, and others, that Jewish people are somehow not human, and inferior. These beliefs led to the horrible atrocities committed in places such as Auschwitz.
Arbeit Macht Frei - Old saying that translates as “work makes free,” sadistically placed above the gates at Auschwitz.
Auschwitz - Location of the Main German Death Camp, located in Poland. Part of a large complex that killed millions of European Jews throughout the course of the war.
Battle of the Bulge - A failed German Offensive in late 1944 and early 1945.
Berlin - German Capital, location of Hitler’s death.
Birkenau - A second German Death Camp, located near Auschwitz.
Blitzkrieg - Translates as “Lightning War”, a German tactic of speedy invasion by land and Air.
Cyclon B - An insecticide used by the Germans to kill Jewish deportees in gas chambers.
D-Day - The day of the Allied invasion of Europe occupied by Germany.
Dachau - Concentration Camp that housed horrible medical experimentation.
Enigma - German encryption machine code name.
European Theater - Term used to describe the War in Europe.
Final Solution - A term used by the German’s to reference the genocide of the Jewish people.
Fuhrur - A German term for leader, Hitler took on the title when he came to power.
Genocide - term describing the complete and utter killing of a group of people based on a specific trait or set of traits.
Gestapo - German Secret Police
Heer - Term used to describe the German Army.
Hitler Youth - A children’s group founded by Hitler to indoctrinate German youth into the Nazi Party’s doctrines.
Kapo - Concentration camp inmates given privileged status to help carry out the work of the camp.
Kriegsmarine - Term used for the German Navy.
Leningrad - Currently St. Petersburg, location of major seige of the war on Russian Territory.
Luftwaffe - Term used for the German Air Force.
Main Kampf - A book written by Hitler during his time in prison on treason charges. Literal Translation means “My Struggle”.
Munich Pact - Pact between Germany, Britain, Italy and France signed in 1938, which allowed Germany freedom to invade parts of Czechoslovakia.
Nazi - Term for the Party of Adolf Hitler. Political Party, which is also known as the National Socialist German Worker’s Party.
Night of the Long Knives - Term to describe the day Hitler cleaned up his SA through murder of those who he did not trust.
Normandy - Location of the Initial Allied Invasion of Europe.
NSDAP - See Nazi
Panzer - Term used to designate certain German Tanks or Groups of Tanks.
Rastenburg Assassination Plot - Secret Plot by German Military to assassinate Adolf Hitler, in an attempt to bring an early end to the war.
Reich - German term for State or Empire.
Reichstag - German Voting body, much like a senate or Parliament. Can be used for the actual voting body or the building in which they preside.
SA - Sturmabteilung, military wing of the Nazi Party, Hitler used them to his advantage in gaining power.
SS - Schutzstaffel, Started off as Hitler’s personal bodyguards, but their use expanded to include them as a army unit that was not under direct control of the army.
Stalingrad - Decisive battle on the Russian front of the war.
Treblinka - Concentration camp, location of deaths of Jews deported from the Warsaw Ghettos.
Tripartite Pact - Pact signed by Germany, Japan, and Italy, officially entering Japan into the Axis.
UBoat - German submarine.
V1,V2 - Ballistic missiles developed by Germany, the first of their kind.
V-E Day - The day of the German Surrender in 1945.
Volk - German word for people.
Waffen SS - The armed members of the SS of the Nazi Party.
Wannsee Conference - The meeting at which the German’s came to the “Final Solution” decision to exterminate the Jewish peoples.
Wehrmacht - Term used to describe the entire German Armed Forces.
