Nazi Germany: Case Study – Key Terms (VOCABULARY Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering economic, social, propaganda, totalitarian control, persecution, and resistance topics from the Nazi Germany case study.

Reich Labour Service (RAD)

Nazi program that created jobs through public works and conservation projects to reduce unemployment and support the war economy.

Hjalmar Schacht

President of the Reichsbank and Minister of Economics who helped economic recovery and financed grand programmes through deficit funding.

Deficit funding

Borrowing money from the public (via loan bonds) with a promise to repay, used to fund government projects.

Rear­mament

Policy to expand military production and related industries, boosting employment.

Autarky

Economic self-sufficiency aimed at reducing dependence on imports.

Four-Year Plan

Policy prioritising rearmament and autarky to prepare Germany for war within four years.

Conscription (1935)

Mandatory military service to build up the army and create war-related jobs.

Luftwaffe

Germany’s modern air force, created to support the war economy and provide engineering jobs.

Hermann Göring

Nazi leader who managed the economy and war production, benefiting from government contracts.

Strength Through Joy (KdF)

Programme offering workers leisure, holidays and activities to boost morale and productivity.

Beauty of Labour (Schönheit der Arbeit)

State-driven workplace improvements (facilities, canteens) to raise efficiency, with relatively low wages.

German Labour Front (DAF)

Nazi-controlled replacement for independent trade unions, coordinating workers under the regime.

National Socialist Teachers’ League

Organisation regulating teachers and enforcing Nazi ideology in education.

League of German Girls (BDM)

Female youth organisation indoctrinating girls into Nazi values and domestic roles.

Hitler Youth

State youth group for Aryan boys; compulsory membership; emphasis on indoctrination and training.

Kinder, Küche, Kirche

Nazi motto privileging women’s roles as mothers and homemakers.

Aryan women

Idealized category of women celebrated for bearing Aryan children and reinforcing traditional roles.

Nuremberg Laws

1935 laws stripping Jews of citizenship and civil rights and restricting intermarriage.

Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)

1938 pogrom destroying Jewish property and livelihoods, intensifying persecution.

Wannsee Conference

1942 meeting where Nazi leaders planned the Final Solution to murder Europe’s Jews.

Final Solution

Nazi plan to murder about 11 million Jews; resulted in roughly 6 million deaths.

Ghettos

Forced, crowded Jewish districts in which inhabitants lived under dire conditions.

Euthanasia programme (Aktion T4)

Policy begun in 1939 to kill disabled and mentally ill individuals.

Sterilisation

Forced sterilisation as part of racial hygiene policies; hundreds of thousands affected.

Concentration camps

Detention camps where opponents and undesirables were imprisoned under brutal conditions.

Untermenschen

Nazi label meaning “subhumans” used to justify persecution and exclusion.

Star of David (1934 marking)

Public marking of Jews’ shops to humiliate and segregate from society.

SS (Schutzstaffel)

Elite Nazi paramilitary organisation enforcing racial policy and routing out enemies.

Heinrich Himmler

Head of the SS and key architect of security policy and the Holocaust.

Sicherheitsdienst (SD)

SS intelligence arm that monitored political opponents and threats.

Gestapo

Secret State Police; could arrest or jail people without trial to suppress opposition.

Police integration with SS

Bringing police forces under SS control to deepen state repression.

National Socialist League for the Maintenance of Law

Nazi-controlled grouping that ensured judges adhered to Nazi legal norms.

Abolition of trial by jury

Judges, not juries, decided cases, aligning justice with Nazi directives.

Goering

Senior Nazi leader who oversaw the economy and policing; influential in repression.

Propaganda

State influence through film, rallies, posters and media to glorify the regime and deter opposition.

Joseph Goebbels

Minister of Propaganda who directed censorship and information control.

Censorship

Systematic suppression of anti-Nazi ideas; control over media, books and broadcasts.

Volksempfänger (People’s Receiver)

Affordable radios distributed to spread Nazi propaganda and monitor listening.