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The Lebensborn program was a secretive Nazi initiative established by Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS (Schutzstaffel), with the goal of promoting the growth of a "racially pure" Aryan population (blond hair, blue eyes, and other characteristics associated with "Nordic" heritage) to ensure the future dominance of the Germanic peoples. Lebensborn, meaning "Fount of Life," was founded in 1935 and sought to increase the birth rate of Aryan children and facilitate the adoption of children deemed racially desirable by the Nazi regime. Lebensborn provided assistance to unmarried women who were considered racially valuable and who became pregnant, often by SS members. These women were encouraged to have children outside of marriage, as long as both parents met the racial criteria. The program offered financial and social support to the mothers and took care of their medical needs. The Lebensborn program set up special maternity homes where pregnant women could give birth in secret, away from public scrutiny. These homes were located across Germany and occupied territories, including Norway and Poland. Women were selected based on their racial characteristics, and the fathers were often SS officers or men chosen for their perceived racial purity.
Lebensraum (German) Meaning “living space,” it was a basic principle of Nazi foreign policy. It was based on a toxic mix of racial supremacy, imperialist expansionism, and dehumanization of non-German peoples. Hitler believed that Eastern Europe was to be conquered to create a vast German empire with more physical space, a greater population, and new territory to supply food and raw materials.
Liberators were the Allied forces who freed prisoners from Nazi concentration camps, extermination camps, and labor camps as they advanced through Europe near the end of World War II. The liberators were not only witnesses to Nazi crimes, but also the first source of hope for survivors, who had endured unimaginable suffering and lost nearly all they held dear. The liberation of these camps exposed to the world the extent of Nazi atrocities, revealed the reality of the Holocaust, and marked a pivotal moment in the history of the war.
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Madagascar Plan A Nazi policy that was seriously considered during the late 1930s and 1940s to send Jews to Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. The plan was never implemented, primarily because of logistical challenges and the onset of World War II. The invasion of France and the defeat of the French government in 1940 rendered Madagascar, then a French colony, less desirable. Nazi policies then shifted towards the systematic extermination of the Jewish population, leading to the Holocaust.
The term "master race" (German: Herrenrasse) was popularized in the early 20th century, particularly by writers like Houston Stewart Chamberlain, who advocated for the idea of Aryan superiority. This concept was rooted in pseudo-scientific theories of race that sought to establish hierarchies among different ethnic groups. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party adopted the idea of a master race as a central element of their ideology. They promoted the notion that the Aryan race, particularly Northern Europeans (characterized as tall, fair-skinned, and blue-eyed), was superior to all other races. The idea of the master race was influenced by Social Darwinism, which applied the concept of "survival of the fittest" to human societies, suggesting that certain races were destined to dominate others. The belief in a master race fueled extreme antisemitism, leading to the dehumanization and persecution of Jews, whom the Nazis considered racially inferior and a threat to societal purity. Other groups, including Romani people, Slavs, disabled individuals, and political dissidents, were also deemed inferior and targeted for extermination. This ideology justified horrific policies, including forced sterilizations, the implementation of racial laws (like the Nuremberg Laws), and the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Mein Kampf (German) Hitler wrote this autobiographical book (My Struggle) while he was imprisoned in the Landsberg fortress after the “Beer-Hall Putsch” in 1923. In this book, Hitler propounds his ideas, beliefs, and plans for the future of Germany. The book is a mix of autobiography, political ideology, and antisemitic ranting. Everything, including his foreign policy, is permeated by his racial ideology. The Germans, he argued, belong to the “superior” Aryan race, and have a right to “living space” (Lebensraum) in the East, which is inhabited by the “inferior” Slavs. Throughout, he accuses Jews of being the source of all evil, and calls for their removal from society. Mein Kampf was not initially a bestseller when it was first published in 1925, but it gained popularity after Hitler's rise to power in the early 1930s. The book became a central text of Nazi ideology and was widely distributed in Nazi Germany. It served as a blueprint for many of the policies and actions that Hitler would later undertake, including the persecution and eventual genocide of the Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Musselmann (German) Concentration camp slang used by fellow inmates to describe a prisoner who had become severely emaciated, demoralized, and dehumanized due to the brutal conditions of camp life. It often referred to those who were on the brink of death or had given up hope of survival.
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Nazi Party Short Term for Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), the National Socialist German Workers Party, a right-wing, authoritarian, nationalistic and antisemitic political party formed on January 5, 1919 and headed by Adolf Hitler from 1921 to 1945. The party's ideology, known as Nazism, was characterized by extreme nationalism, authoritarianism, antisemitism, and racism. Under Nazi rule, Germany pursued aggressive territorial expansion, leading to the outbreak of World War II. The Nazis also implemented a series of discriminatory and oppressive policies, including the persecution and genocide of millions of Jews and other minorities during the Holocaust. After Germany's defeat in World War II, the Nazi party was disbanded, and many of its leaders were prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Nuremberg trials. Furthermore, the use of the Nazi symbol is now outlawed in Germany.
Night and Fog Decree (Nacht und Nebel Erlass) was a directive issued by Adolf Hitler on December 7, 1941. It aimed to address the perceived threat of resistance movements in occupied territories, particularly in France and Belgium. Under the decree, individuals arrested for resistance activities could be taken by the Gestapo or military authorities, often in secrecy. They were deported to Germany or other locations, where they would be held without trial, and their fate was typically unknown to their families. The term "Night and Fog" symbolized that these arrests were carried out in the dead of night with secrecy surrounding the fate of those captured. Many of the victims effectively “disappeared”, with no public record of their arrest or detention.
Nuremberg Laws 1935 were two anti-Jewish statutes enacted September 15, 1935 during the Nazi party’s national convention in Nuremberg. The first, the Reich Citizenship Law, deprived German Jews of their citizenship and all related pertinent rights. The second, the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor, outlawed marriages of Jews and non-Jews, forbade Jews from employing German females of childbearing age, and prohibited Jews from displaying the German flag. The Nuremberg Laws carefully established definitions of Jewishness based on bloodlines. Thus, many Germans of mixed ancestry, called “Mischlinge,” faced antisemitic discrimination if they had a Jewish grandparent. These laws were followed by subsequent regulations that further restricted the rights of Jews in Nazi Germany, leading to their increasing marginalization and persecution.
