Glossary

A

• Camp administration : Abteilung

  German term meaning “Department” – Administrative department of the Kommandantur.

• Nazi society confronting Nazism : Anti-Semitism

  Hatred towards people of the Jewish faith. The Nazis abolished and destroyed all symbols associated with Jewish worship, stripped them of their rights, and subjected them to forced labour, confining them to ghettos and eventually exterminating them.

• Camp administration : Arbeitsdienst

  German term meaning “Labour Service” – This is the administrative department of the Kommandantur responsible for assigning prisoners to the various labour kommandos.

• Camp administration : Außenlager

  Subcamp – Nebenlager (sometimes) – A secondary camp attached to a main camp. It was usually smaller in size, located in the immediate vicinity of a work site (factory, mine, etc.) for labourers, and the prisoners were assigned to a limited number of kommandos.

B

• Daily routine and organisation in the camp : Barracks

  Hut – Block – Living quarters for prisoners. The three terms are used synonymously. Block is the term used in the administrative jargon of the camps. The Block is divided into two barrack rooms (Stube).

• Camp administration : Base camp

  Main camp – The main camp, which houses the headquarters of the Kommandantur and oversees the often smaller subcamps. Natzweiler was the main camp for 53 subcamps

• Daily routine and organisation in the camp : Block

  Barracks – Hut – Living quarters for prisoners. The three terms are used synonymously. Block is the term used in the administrative jargon of the camps. The Block is divided into two barrack rooms (Stube).

• Daily routine and organisation in the camp : Blockältester

  German term meaning “Block Elder” – A prisoner in charge of the Block to which they are assigned. They report directly to the Lagerältester.

• Nazi society confronting Nazism : Book burnings

  Book burnings The act of burning books containing ideology that does not align with that of the regime. The Nazis carried out book burnings, mainly targeting books written by Jews, communists and pacifists.

• Nazi society confronting Nazism : Bund Deutscher Mädel

  German term meaning “League of German Girls or Band of German Maidens” – A Nazi youth movement that was active in Germany from 1930 to 1945, with the aim of indoctrinating girls aged 10 to 18 to prepare them for life as women in Nazi society.