This Glossary was taken from an Educational document entitled Brief History of the Holocaust, prepared by the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre

Allies: The nations – Canada, Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States – that joined together in the war against Germany and its partners – Italy and Japan (known as the Axis powers). Later, the Axis was joined by Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.

Anschluss: The annexation of Austria by Germany on March 13, 1938.

Anti-Semitism: Hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group. The hatred of Jews dates back to ancient times, but the word “anti-Semitism” was coined in the late 19th century. Jews were accused of conspiring to dominate the world, an idea perpetuated through false publications such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. A new dimension was added to traditional hatred of Jew with the emerging “pseudo-science” (artificial science) of racial stereotyping. The Nazis* drew from these “theories” in their war against the Jews, which culminated in the murder of two-thirds of European Jewry.

Aryan: The Nazis* took a term used to describe an ancient tribe and applied it to themselves, falsely claiming that their own “Aryan race” was superior to all other racial groups. The term “non-Aryan” was used to designate Jews, part-Jews and others of supposedly inferior race.

Blitzkrieg: German for “lightning war”, used to describe the speed, efficiency and intensity of Germany’s military attack against its opponents.

Bund: A secular Jewish socialist party which was founded in Western Russia in the late 1800s. It was a cultural movement rather than a territorial one and was thus at odds with most Zionist movements. The Bund was active in the underground resistance during the Holocaust*.

Concentration Camp: Any internment (imprisonment) camp for holding “enemies of the Third Reich”*. The construction of concentration camps began almost immediately after Hitler came to power. Thousands of camps were established during the war.

Death Camp: Extermination centres established in occupied Poland for the mass murder of Jews and other victims, primarily by poison gas. These were Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka.

Death Marches: Trapped between the Soviets in the East and the Allies* in the West, the Nazis* emptied concentration camps*, forcing inmates to march long distances toward camps in Germany. Facing intolerable conditions and brutal treatment, thousands died on route as a result of mistreatment, starvation and shootings.

Deportation: The removal of people from their homes for purposes of “resettlement”. The Jews of Europe were designated for deportation to ghettos*, concentration camps* and extermination centres.

Displaced Persons (DP) Camps: Camps established after World War II for those who had been liberated but could not to return to their former homes. Tens of thousands of Jews remained in the camps for a number of years until they were able to immigrate to other countries.

Einsatzgruppen (German, literally “operational squads”): Mobile killing units of the Nazi SS*.

Euthanasia: Nazi* euphemism for the deliberate killing of the institutionalised physically and mentally handicapped.

“Final Solution of the Jewish Question”: Nazi* euphemism for the extermination of European Jewry.

Führer: Leader in German.

Genocide: (from Greek genos, “race”, and Latin caedes, “killing”): A word coined by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1943 to describe the official government policy for the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, cultural, or religious group. The term ‘genocide’ is defined by the United Nations in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948). Genocide is defined as an act committed with the intention to exterminate a national, ethnic, racial or religious group (in whole or in part). Its current legal definition does not include the extermination of political opponents. Members of the group are murdered or systematically persecuted through various means to reach this goal: murder, “measures intended to prevent births within the group”, “the transfer of children of the group to another group”, etc. Genocide is committed by those in power, in their name or with their open or implied consent. Genocide is considered a crime against humanity.

Gestapo (German): Secret State Police of Nazi* Germany, created in 1933.

Ghetto: The Nazis* revived the medieval term to describe their device of concentration and control, the compulsory “Jewish Quarter”. Established in poor areas, Jews were forced to live in overcrowded and desperate conditions.

Holocaust: Systematic, state-sponsored murder of approximately six million Jews between 1933 and 1945, committed by the Nazis* and their collaborators. The word “holocaust” is a Greek word meaning sacrifice, especially by fire.

In addition to commit the Holocaust, the Nazis* persecuted other victims, too: the Roma and Sinti (their genocide* is named Samudaripen), the disabled (T4 program), the homosexuals, the Slavs, the political opponents, etc.

Judaism: the monotheistic religion of the Jews, whose spiritual and ethical principles are embodied chiefly in the Torah (Old Testament, or the five books of Moses) and in the Talmud (Jewish law and ethics).

Jude: the German word for Jew.

Kapo: Concentration camp* inmates designated by the Nazis* to positions of authority.

Nazi: The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), established in 1919. In 1933 the Nazi Party achieved political control of Germany through democratic election.

Nuremberg Laws: A series of laws promulgated in 1935, which defined who was Jewish and which introduced their systematic discrimination and persecution.

Nuremberg Trials: Trials against major Nazi* figures held in Nuremberg, Germany in 1945 and 1946 before the International Military Tribunal.

Partisans: Groups operating in enemy-occupied territory using guerrilla tactics. Some partisan groups were Jewish or included Jewish members, while others were made up entirely of non-Jewish resistance fighters.

Pogrom: Derived from Russian, literally meaning “devastation”. An organised, often officially encouraged massacre or persecution of Jews.

Shoah: The Hebrew word for Holocaust*, a biblical term meaning “catastrophe”, “destruction”, “disaster”.

Shtetl: A small Jewish town or village in Eastern Europe.

SS (schutzstaffel: protection squad): Guard detachments originally formed in 1925 as Hitler’s personal guard. From 1929, under Heinrich Himmler (a leading member of the Nazi* party), the SS became the most powerful affiliated organisation of the Nazi* Party. By mid-1934, they had established control of the police and security systems, forming the basis of the Nazi* police state and the major instrument of racial terror in the concentration camps* and in occupied Europe.

Third Reich: The Nazi* designation of Germany and its regime from 1933 to 1945. Historically, the First Reich was the medieval Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806.The Second Reich referred to the German Empire from 1871 to 1918.

Yiddish: The language of Eastern European Jews and their descendants. Yiddish is based on middle-high German, infused with many Hebrew words and expressions and using the Hebrew script.

Zyklon B: Hydrogen cyanide. A poisonous gas originally developed as an insecticide, and later used in the Nazi* gas chambers for the purposes of mass murder.