Holocaust Vocabulary

atrocity

monstrous wickedness or cruelty; a cruel or brutal act

antisemitism

hostility toward or prejudice against Jewish people

genocide

the killing of a race or group of people

ghetto

the area of a city where an ethnic group lives

Adolf Hitler

dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933-1945

9 million; 6 million

Jews in Europe prior to WWII; Jews who died during the Holocaust

Aryan race

Hitler’s preferred race—blond, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, large-boned

Dr. Joseph Mengele

the “Angel of Death”—responsible for the selection process and carrying out horrible medical experiments

euphemism

a substitute word when the actual word is too harsh or too obvious—Hitler's term for murdering the Jews was “The Final Solution”

prejudice

a preconceived opinion of somebody based solely on their race, gender, ethnicity, culture, or religion

racism

the belief that one race is superior to another

discrimination

the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of their ethnicity, age, sex, or disability

sympathy

feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune

empathy

the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

apathy

lack of feeling or emotion

propaganda

a systematic plan for spreading ideas

Star of David

symbol of the Jewish faith

swastika

symbol of the Nazi party

Third Reich

the totalitarian dictatorship of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945

SS (Schutzstaffel)

originally Hitler’s bodyguards, many of these men became administrators at concentration and death camps

Allied Powers

any of the countries that fought as part of the United Nations during WWII. The “Big Four” are the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, and Japan (signed a pact to challenge global order and expand their own territories)

Wannsee Conference

fifteen men met on January 20, 1942, to make plan for the “Final Solution”

Judenrat

committee of Jews who organized and kept order in the ghettos

Gestapo

special state police used to terrorize, arrest, and murder the opposition

concentration camps

three kinds: labor, POW, death. Auschwitz (in Poland) was the largest of the death camps

kapos

prisoners (including Jews) who held positions of authority in the camps