Instrument of detention that permitted secret state police detectives to take persons suspected of pursuing activities hostile to state interests into custody without warrant or judicial review of any kind. Protective custody most often meant indefinite internment in a concentration camp.

Communication of an agenda designed to influence the audience. Information may be presented partially or selectively.

Instrument of detention that permitted criminal police detectives to take persons suspected of engaging in criminal activities into custody without warrant or judicial review of any kind. Preventive arrest usually meant indefinite internment in a concentration camp.

Originally a Slavic word for a violent riot against an Ethnic/Religious group, usually sanctioned by the authorities.

Those who commit crimes or atrocities. These may be well-known leaders of political and military groups or individuals working in lower positions.

Member of an irregular military force that opposed German occupation in its area.

Jews from the East mainly Poland and Russia

Regular uniformed German police force. Central Headquarters were in Berlin. Municipal Police (Schutzpolizei) served as the urban police forces. Gendarmerie, or rural police, served in the countryside. There were also larger units of Order Police called Police Battalions.

deporting the Jews from their homes all over Europe to the East, that is Poland

Germany’s surprise attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941. The attack was a surprise because there was a peace treaty between the two nations.

National Socialist (Nationalsozialist) German Workers Party

Einsatzgruppen, followed the regular army in the Eastern Front, to find and murder Jews and Communist leaders

a historic period from around 500 AD – 1300 AD

Hitler’s antisemitic book from 1924

Lebensraum, Germany’s rationale (of needing space) for expansion.

Terminating the existence of a ghetto/camp including eliminating the residents

Soldiers of the Allied Forces who liberated Europe including the Nazi camps.

The war waged by the Allies and taking control of territory from the Axis Powers. Europe was liberated in stages, as the Allies advanced from 1943 on. This included the liberation of various Nazi camps.

Living Space, Germany’s rationale (of needing space) for expansion.

SS program for supporting racially pure children

German word for detachment, such as a detachment of concentration camp prisoners at forced labor.

Jewish children were separated from their families and taken into safety in Great Britain in 1938.

Facilities for Euthanasia program where individuals were murdered usually by lethal injection or gas. This term is sometimes used also to describe ‘extermination or death camps’.

a concentration camp prisoner selected to oversee other prisoners on labor details. The term is often used generically for any concentration camp prisoner to whom the SS gave authority over other prisoners.