Holocaust Flashcards
1: Auschwitz(term)
the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, located 37 miles west of Krakow, Poland. The Auschwitz main camp was established in 1940. In 1942, a killing center was established at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In 1941, Auschwitz-Monowitz was established as a forced-labor camp. More than 100 subcamps and labor detachments were administratively connected to Auschwitz III.
2: The Night Of The Long Knives(event)
A purge of the SA leadership was ordered by Hitler, who falsely accused them of conspiring against the government. Over the course of three days, more than 150 people were murdered, including the SA Chief of Staff Ernst Röhm.
3: Aryan(term)
Term used in Nazi Germany to refer to non-Jewish and non-Roma (Gypsy) Caucasians. Northern Europeans with especially “Nordic” features such as blonde hair and blue eyes were considered by so-called race scientists to be the most superior of Aryans, members of a “master race.”
4: Concentration Camp(term)
Throughout German-occupied Europe, the Nazis established camps to detain and, if necessary, kill so-called enemies of the state, including Jews, Gypsies, political and religious opponents, members of national resistance movements, homosexuals, and others. Imprisonment in a concentration camp was of unlimited duration, was not linked to a specific act, and was not subject to any judicial review. In addition to concentration camps, the Nazi regime ran several other kinds of camps including labor camps, transit camps, prisoner-of-war camps, and killing centers.
5: El Alamein(event)
The Allies attacked Nazi troops stationed near El Alamein in Egypt. By the 2 November 1942, the Nazi defenses were near breaking point. By the 11 November, the battle was over, leaving the Allied troops victorious. The battle marked a turning point in the North Africa campaign, reviving the morale of the Allied troops following the failure of the Battle of France.
6: Gestapo(people)
the German Secret State Police, which was under SS control. It was responsible for investigating political crimes and opposition activities.
7: The Reichstag Fire(event)
The Reichstag building in Berlin was set on fire. Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist, was taken into custody for the crime and later executed. The Nazi government exploited the fire and declared a state of emergency.
8: Nazi(people)
a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers’ Party, existed from 1919 to 1920.
9: Beer Hall Putsch(event)
Hitler and the Nazi Party unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic. This event became known as the Beer Hall Putsch.
10: Birkenau(term)
Nazi camp also known as Auschwitz II. Birkenau contained systematic mass killing operations. It also housed thousands of concentration camp prisoners deployed at forced labor.
11: SS(people)
German abbreviation for Schutzstaffel (literally, protection squads). A paramilitary formation of the Nazi party initially created to serve as bodyguards to Hitler and other Nazi leaders. It later took charge of political intelligence gathering, the German police and the central security apparatus, the concentration camps, and the systematic mass murder of Jews and other victims.
12: The Wannsee Conference(event)
Fifteen members of the German Civil Service and Nazi Party met at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin. They discussed and agreed the measures needed to implement the ‘Final Solution’ – the complete annihilation of the European Jews.
13: Versailles Treaty(event)
Peace treaty ending the First World War, creating many of the issues of bitterness between European countries and, especially, a feeling of resentment by Germans.
14: Adolf Hitler(people)
Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934.During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.
15: Heinrich Himmler(people)
Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of German Police, a position which included supreme command over the Gestapo, View This Term in the Glossary the concentration camps, and the Waffen-SS. After 1943, Himmler was Minister of the Interior of Nazi Germany, principal planner for the aim of Nazi Germany to kill all European Jews.
