Holocaust Vocab Terms

Anti-Semitism

prejudice and/or hostility against Jews

Blood libel

accusation that Christian children were targeted for

use in rituals

Scapegoat

reason of any calamity or difficult times

Pogroms

(organized massacres) throughout Eastern Europe

Richard Wagner

Ultra-nationalistic– feeds Nazism later in history. Produced German nationalism music.

Karl Lueger

Mayor of Vienna 1889 –1910

•Inspiration for Hitler

•Anti-Semitic and anti-communist

•Politicians used anti-Semitism to win votes

Hatemonger

kindles prejudice and hatred in other humans

Six million

Number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust

2/3

Fraction of Europe’s Jews murdered in the Holocaust

deicide

the killer of a god

Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion

Fictional story that details Jews plan to take over the world

Social Darwinism

social philosophy that argues natural selection works in society just as it works in nature

ghetto

the Jewish quarter in a city

Eugenics

a late 19th century “scientific” theory that advocates the

improvement of human hereditary traits through various forms of intervention

Herbert Spencer

Developed of Social Darwanism

Heinrich Himmler

Considered the main architect of the

Holocaust. Organized the Nazi elite forces (SS) and the secret police (Gestapo)

Josef Mengele

German physician and SS captain. “Angel of Death.” He was the most prominent of a group of Nazi doctors who conducted radical medical experiments that often caused great harm or death to the prisoners.

Aryans

Those who descended from the ancient Indo-Europeans who settled throughout the European continent

mischling

Pure Germanic race that blessed world with civilization before mixing with alleged inferior people and subsequent “Loss of Purity Blood

Operation T4

In 1939 Hitler secretly authorized a medically administered

program of "mercy death"

Lebensborn and Lebensraum

“living space” territorial aggression to repopulateEurope with German

Roma

Group who were killed in Holocaust that had origins in South Asia. Mostly in Poland.

Weimar Republic

Democratically elected post-WWI German government

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty that ended WWI

Beer Hall Putsch

Hitler sentenced to prison for 5 years but jailed for only 9 months. His attempt at treason + taking over the government.

Mein Kampf

(My Struggle) Hitler’s manifesto + plan for when he gets out of prison.

Fascism

far-right, authoritarian ultra-nationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and the economy. one party state in which individual

is subordinate to the perceived good derived from the

unity of the nation/race

Communism

a far-left political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of the major means of production

Great Depression

Economic crash in 1929

Nazis

National Socialist German Workers' Party who are the largest party in the Reichstag (German Parliament)

Paul von Hindenburg

Wins presidency by 53% and appoints Hitler as Chancellor

Reichstag

German Congress building

Enabling Act

Passage gives Hitler’s cabinet legal power to decree laws. No passage by Reichstag needed for future bills. Effectively making Hitler a dictator with no oversight

Chancellor

Position Hitler had before dictator

Social Democrats

Center left party that were against Nazis

Reich

Ethnic German empire that was to last for 1000 years

Third Reich

Nazi Germany under Hitler (1933 – 1945)

Führer

Leader in German. Hitler took this title after combining position of chancellor and president.

Triumph of the Will

Movie that glorifies Nazism and Hitler. Germany emerging from

Great Depression

Propaganda

information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

Loyalty Oath

Had to pledge oath to serve Hitler—not Germany

Joseph Goebbels

Minister of Propaganda

Kristallnacht

“Night of Broken Glass” – Nov. 9 - 10. Pogrom against Jews throughout Germany

Sudetenland

primarily German speaking portion of Czechoslovakia

Appeasement

Strategy of “preventing” war by making concessions to an aggressor for perceived “legitimate” grievances

Munich Conference

Resulted in the Munich Pact. which annexed Sudetenland

Pact of Steel

Pledge of offensive and defensive support

Joseph Stalin

Prime Minister of Soviet Union

Non-Aggression Pact

Germany and USSR sign this. If one country is involved in war, the

other will remain neutral

Blood and Soil

Hitler's hierarchy of groups of people