Here you will find descriptions of a range of terms, events, themes and institutions featured on the website.
SS
The SS (»Schutzstaffel«) under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler was envisioned as an elite paramilitary organisation of the National Socialist state. With Himmler’s takeover and reorganisation of the police, the SS became the regime’s central instrument of terror. In 1934, it was given control over all concentration camps. The Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), formed in 1939 as the planning centre for crimes in German-occupied Europe, was subordinated to it.
The SS (»Schutzstaffel«) under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler was envisioned as an elite paramilitary organisation of the National Socialist state. With Himmler’s takeover and reorganisation of the police, the SS became the regime’s central instrument of terror. In 1934, it was given control over all concentration camps. The Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), formed in 1939 as the planning centre for crimes in German-occupied Europe, was subordinated to it.
In September 1939 the Reich Security Main Office (»Reichssicherheitshauptamt«, RSHA) was created under the leadership of senior SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. Under the authority of the SS, it was the central agency for all police tasks and matters related to security policy in the National Socialist state. Equipped with unlimited legal powers, its tasks included deciding on admissions to concentration camps. The (main) offices of the Gestapo and Criminal Police throughout the Reich were subordinate to the Reich Security Main Office.
Subcamps
So-called subcamps were established at virtually all concentration camps, particularly after 1942. The concentration camp prisoners held in the subcamps had to perform forced labour. Living conditions were as inhumane as in the main camps. There were more than 1,000 subcamps in the German Reich and the occupied territories.
Systematic police surveillance
This form of surveillance enabled the Criminal Police to control people without a court ruling and to impose harsh conditions on them. The main groups affected were prostitutes, homosexuals, Sinti and Roma and people classed as »career criminals«. In many cases these individuals were subject to a night-time curfew, had to report to the police every week or required authorisation in order to change their place of residence. They had no right of appeal over these conditions.
The Criminal Police (Kriminalpolizei, »Kripo«) is a regular police division in charge of investigating crimes. In the National Socialist state its tasks additionally included the surveillance and persecution of »community aliens« (»Gemeinschaftsfremde«). People deemed »career criminals« or »asocials« by the Criminal Police were placed under systematic surveillance and were detained indefinitely.
It was up to police officers to decide what was to be considered »asocial behaviour«: the slightest deviation from the norm could lead to imprisonment.
Triangle
| In the concentration camps the SS stripped people of their names and issued them with numbers instead. Next to the number on their uniforms the prisoners had to wear a coloured triangle. The colour of the triangle denoted the reason for their incarceration. With this system the SS also created a hierarchy of prisoners. The colour of the triangle determined how an individual would be treated in the camp. People who wore the black triangle were classed as »asocials«, the green triangle denoted »career criminals«. |
The SS (»Schutzstaffel«) under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler was envisioned as an elite paramilitary organisation of the National Socialist state. With Himmler’s takeover and reorganisation of the police, the SS became the regime’s central instrument of terror. In 1934, it was given control over all concentration camps. The Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), formed in 1939 as the planning centre for crimes in German-occupied Europe, was subordinated to it.
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«).