Auschwitz Glossary

Glossary

(For a far more extensive list, see the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Holocaust Glossary and for an even more complete list of terms including those related to the Holocaust, see the full Library glossary.)

   Ahnenerbe: [Ancestral Heritage], The Institute for the 
       Scientific Study of Ends and Purposes, located in Berlin. 

   Einsatzgruppe: Battalion-sized, mobile, armed unit of police

   Einsatzgruppen: Battalion-sized, mobile, armed units of police,
       primarily Security Police and SD officials, which were used
       to attack and execute perceived enemies in conquered territories.
       (Breitman, Richard. The Architect of Genocide: Himmler and the 	
       Final Solution. MA: Brandeis University Press, 1992, p. 311)

   Einsatzkommando: Company-sized component of the Einsatzgruppen 
       (Ibid., 311)

   Gauleiter: Supreme territorial or regional party authority(-ies)
       (The term is both singular and plural). The Nazi Party divided
       Germany and some annexed territories into geographical units
       called Gaue, headed by a Gauleiter. (Ibid., 311)

   General Government: The Nazi-ruled state in central and eastern
       Poland. Headed by Governor (Ibid., 311)

   Final Solution: Euphemism for the extermination of European Jewry

   SD (Sicherheitsdienst): The SS Security Service

   Selektionen: (Selection) The process by which newly-arrived prisoners
       were divided into those capable of work, and those deemed unfit
       for work, i.e. those to be exterminated immediately.

   Sonderkommandos: Division of Einsatzgruppen, generally smaller than
       Einsatzkommando, but also a more general term for special
       commando units assigned particular functions. (Ibid., 311)

   Military rank - here's a list from Breitman (314) which lists SS
   ranks and the Western military equivalent:

   Oberstgruppenführer          General
   Obergruppenführer            Lieutenant General
   Gruppenführer                Major General
   Brigadeführer                Brigadier General
   Oberführer                   between Brigadier & Colonel
   Standartenführer             Colonel
   Obersturmbannführer          Lieutenant Colonel
   Sturmbannführer              Major
   Hauptsturmführer             Captain
   Obersturmführer              First Lieutenant
   Unterscharführer             Corporal
   Rottenführer                 Private, First Class
   Sturmann                     Private
   SS-Mann                      no equivalent

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Source: The Nizkor Project.