{"id":7057,"date":"2016-03-01T12:38:23","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T12:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=7057"},"modified":"2016-03-01T12:39:03","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T12:39:03","slug":"german-words-associated-with-nazism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-words-associated-with-nazism\/","title":{"rendered":"German Words Associated With Nazism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag!<\/p>\n

Have you ever said a word or phrase in all innocence, only to receive shocked gasps from those around you, and be told \u2018You can\u2019t say that!\u2019? Or be laughed at because the word you\u2019ve used doesn\u2019t mean what you think it does?<\/p>\n

Language is ever-changing, and words’ meanings can change over time. This can make it difficult for language learners to keep up. What\u2019s even trickier is when seemingly innocent words become tainted, so unless you are aware of the history and\/or politics surrounding them, this won\u2019t be obvious at all.<\/p>\n

This is especially true of German words associated with Nazi Germany. While it\u2019s obvious that you shouldn\u2019t go around calling people Nazis, there are many words and phrases that you may not even realise have Nazi associations \u2013 and should therefore be treated with caution! Here are a few examples.<\/p>\n

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Foto: teclasorg on flickr.com under a CC license (CC by 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brausebad and Fremdarbeiter<\/h3>\n

Some German words were changed following the war, because of their negative associations. Brausebad<\/strong>, the old German word for shower<\/em>, was changed to Dusche<\/strong> because some concentration camps called their gas chambers ‘showers’<\/em> to trick prisoners into thinking they were going for a shower. The word Brausebad<\/em> was even removed from the German dictionary in the late 1940s. Meanwhile, the word Fremdarbeiter<\/strong> (foreign\/migrant worker<\/em>) was changed to Gastarbeiter<\/strong> (literally \u2018guest worker\u2019) because the word Fremdarbeiter<\/em> had too strong an association with the forced labour Hitler used during the Third Reich. The term Gastarbeiter<\/em> was invented to distinguish between this and the Gastarbeiterprogramm<\/em><\/a> of the 1960s & 1970s.<\/p>\n

Sonderbehandlung and Endl\u00f6sung<\/h3>\n

These are seemingly innocent words with darker meanings. Sonderbehandlung<\/strong> literally means \u2018special treatment\u2019<\/em>, while Endl\u00f6sung<\/strong> means \u2018final solution\u2019<\/em>. While these seem like harmless words, in reality they were used by the Nazis as code words to disguise two acts of terror; the \u2018special treatment\u2019 referred to execution, while the \u2018final solution\u2019 referred to the mass murder of the Jews.<\/p>\n

Lager<\/h3>\n

This is a tricky one because although it means \u2018camp\u2019 (Konzentrationslager<\/strong> \u2013 concentration camp<\/em>), it also refers to a warehouse or storehouse, usually for beer. It is quite commonly used in modern German, but it is worth being aware of its negative association. Some are uneasy, for example, about the refugee camps in Germany being called ‘Fl\u00fcchtlingslager’<\/em>, simply because of the weight this word carries with it.<\/p>\n

Banned phrases<\/h3>\n

Both the phrases Mit deutschem Gru\u00df<\/strong> (With German greetings<\/em>), a written equivalent to Heil Hitler,<\/em> and Unsere Ehre hei\u00dft Treue<\/strong> (Our honour is called loyalty<\/em>), the slogan of the SS, are illegal to say or write in Germany and Austria.<\/p>\n

When taboo words are used on purpose to create impact<\/h3>\n

Taboo words draw attention, so it is no wonder that they are sometimes used on purpose to create an impact. When the animal rights group PETA launched a travelling display called Holocaust On Your Plate<\/a>, it was banned by Germany\u2019s high court for its insensitive name. In general, if you ever want to use the word Holocaust<\/em> (it\u2019s the same in German \u2013 der Holocaust<\/em>), in any way, prepare for a backlash.<\/p>\n

Commonly used phrases – with a darker past<\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s something you probably were not expecting! Ever wondered where the phrase \u2018Hip Hip, Hooray\u2019<\/strong> comes from? This cheer, usually used at celebrations, is also said to have been used in Nazi Germany. It is thought to come from the Latin battle cry \u2018Hieroslyma est perdita\u2019<\/strong> \u2013 Jerusalem is fallen. The shortened version, used by Germanic tribes fighting Jewish people, \u2018Hep Hep Hu-raj\u2019<\/strong>, translates to Jerusalem is fallen and we are on the way to paradise<\/em>. \u2018Hep Hep\u2019<\/strong> was also the rallying cry used in the Hep Hep Riots<\/strong>, the violent riots aimed at German Jews in the 19th<\/sup> century. At some point, however, it changed to hip hip hooray<\/em> and lost this negative association.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Yes, I know \u2013 as if German weren\u2019t hard enough! But don\u2019t despair. If you\u2019d like to learn more about this topic, get your hands on a copy of the W\u00f6rterbuch der Vergangenheitsbew\u00e4ltigung <\/strong>\u2013 The \u2018dictionary of coming to terms with the past\u2019. This publication examines around 1,000 German words and phrases with Nazi associations, and how they\u2019ve changed and developed since the end of WW2.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! Have you ever said a word or phrase in all innocence, only to receive shocked gasps from those around you, and be told \u2018You can\u2019t say that!\u2019? Or be laughed at because the word you\u2019ve used doesn\u2019t mean what you think it does? Language is ever-changing, and words’ meanings can change over time…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":7477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[3128,8883,95131,95066,224233,376023,11709,421737,209176,1401,8882],"class_list":["post-7057","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-books","tag-german-history","tag-german-language","tag-history-2","tag-hitler","tag-language","tag-nazis","tag-second-world-war","tag-taboo","tag-words","tag-world-war-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7057"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7064,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7057\/revisions\/7064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}