Here you will find descriptions of a range of terms, events, themes and institutions featured on the website.
Wehrmacht
From 1935, the German military was renamed the Wehrmacht. By 1945, a total of 17 million soldiers swore unconditional allegiance to Adolf Hitler. The Wehrmacht invaded and occupied almost all of Europe, committing numerous war crimes: it burned down entire towns and wages a war of extermination against Jews, Sinti and Roma, and the broader population in the East. It was not until the 1990s that a controversial debate about the Wehrmacht’s crimes emerged.
From 1935, the German military was renamed the Wehrmacht. By 1945, a total of 17 million soldiers swore unconditional allegiance to Adolf Hitler. The Wehrmacht invaded and occupied almost all of Europe, committing numerous war crimes: it burned down entire towns and wages a war of extermination against Jews, Sinti and Roma, and the broader population in the East. It was not until the 1990s that a controversial debate about the Wehrmacht’s crimes emerged.
Welfare
Welfare refers to assistance and care provided to other people. Its public institutions included youth welfare offices and health authorities as well as general welfare offices. The tasks of the welfare offices included providing financial assistance to the unemployed. The Nazis excluded certain groups from welfare because they were not considered part of the »national community« (»Volksgemeinschaft«). These groups included Jews or people deemed »workshy« and »asocial«.
Welfare refers to assistance and care provided to other people. Its public institutions included youth welfare offices and health authorities as well as general welfare offices. The tasks of the welfare offices included providing financial assistance to the unemployed. The Nazis excluded certain groups from welfare because they were not considered part of the »national community« (»Volksgemeinschaft«). These groups included Jews or people deemed »workshy« and »asocial«.
Authorities were already using the term »workshy« prior to 1933. For the Nazis it was a derogatory term for the unemployed, whom they accused of not wanting to find work. These people received no assistance from the state; instead, the welfare authorities made them perform heavy manual labour and the police imprisoned many of them in concentration camps. In 1938 alone the police arrested more than 10,000 »workshy« people. The Nazis considered a »workshy« disposition to be hereditary and a danger to the »national community« (»Volksgemeinschaft«).
Welfare institution
The National Socialist welfare offices primarily referred to workhouses and workhouses for itinerants as welfare institutions. In the German Reich, these facilities served as places of detention where individuals accused of vagrancy, begging, prostitution, or homelessness were subjected to forced labour. From 1933, the National Socialists initially incarcerated thousands in such institutions. Shortly thereafter, they increasingly deported groups they labelled as »asocials« to concentration camps.
Welfare offices
Since the 1920s, welfare offices were tasked with supporting the unemployed through financial aid. Applicants were required to petition officials for assistance, as they had no guaranteed entitlement, unlike with insurance. The National Socialists completely excluded certain groups from this aid, deeming them outside the »national community«. These included Jews and individuals labelled as »workshy« or »asocial«.
Authorities were already using the term »workshy« prior to 1933. For the Nazis it was a derogatory term for the unemployed, whom they accused of not wanting to find work. These people received no assistance from the state; instead, the welfare authorities made them perform heavy manual labour and the police imprisoned many of them in concentration camps. In 1938 alone the police arrested more than 10,000 »workshy« people. The Nazis considered a »workshy« disposition to be hereditary and a danger to the »national community« (»Volksgemeinschaft«).
Workhouse
Workhouses had existed in Europe since the 16th century. In the German Reich they served as detention facilities where groups including the homeless or people accused of vagrancy, begging or prostitution were made to work. From 1933 the Nazis initially held thousands of such people in workhouses, but they soon increasingly sent supposed »asocials« to concentration camps.
Workhouses had existed in Europe since the 16th century. In the German Reich they served as detention facilities where groups including the homeless or people accused of vagrancy, begging or prostitution were made to work. From 1933 the Nazis initially held thousands of such people in workhouses, but they soon increasingly sent supposed »asocials« to concentration camps.
Workhouse for itinerants
People of no fixed abode who moved from place to place were known as »itinerants«. They often worked in agriculture during the summer and spent the winter in »workhouses for itinerants« (»Wanderhof«). Under National Socialism certain categories of people were admitted to these workhouses compulsorily by the welfare authorities and made to undertake work there. These detainees were perceived by the Nazis as »workshy« and »inferior«. They faced the threat of forced sterilisation or transfer to a concentration camp.
Authorities were already using the term »workshy« prior to 1933. For the Nazis it was a derogatory term for the unemployed, whom they accused of not wanting to find work. These people received no assistance from the state; instead, the welfare authorities made them perform heavy manual labour and the police imprisoned many of them in concentration camps. In 1938 alone the police arrested more than 10,000 »workshy« people. The Nazis considered a »workshy« disposition to be hereditary and a danger to the »national community« (»Volksgemeinschaft«).
workshy
Authorities were already using the term »workshy« prior to 1933. For the Nazis it was a derogatory term for the unemployed, whom they accused of not wanting to find work. These people received no assistance from the state; instead, the welfare authorities made them perform heavy manual labour and the police imprisoned many of them in concentration camps. In 1938 alone the police arrested more than 10,000 »workshy« people. The Nazis considered a »workshy« disposition to be hereditary and a danger to the »national community« (»Volksgemeinschaft«).
Authorities were already using the term »workshy« prior to 1933. For the Nazis it was a derogatory term for the unemployed, whom they accused of not wanting to find work. These people received no assistance from the state; instead, the welfare authorities made them perform heavy manual labour and the police imprisoned many of them in concentration camps. In 1938 alone the police arrested more than 10,000 »workshy« people. The Nazis considered a »workshy« disposition to be hereditary and a danger to the »national community« (»Volksgemeinschaft«).