Vocabulary Terms
Betar - A Zionist political party in Poland during the 1930s.
Buchenwald - A Nazi concentration camp near Weimar, Germany.
Cheder - Jewish elementary school (also spelled heder).
Chelm - One of the oldest Jewish communities in Poland.
Dachau - The first Nazi concentration camp established by the Nazis. Located near Munich, Germany.
Einsatzgruppen - Nazi mobile killing units ("special squads") composed mainly of SS personnel and often local police and regular army units. Operated in the invasion of the Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe.
Extermination Camps - The six killing centers: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka. They were established by the Germans, and all were in occupied Poland.
"Final Solution to the Jewish Question" - Nazi euphemism referring tot he Nazi plan to exterminate European Jews.
Ghetto - An enclosed district of a city where the Germans forced the Jewish population to live. Ghettos were established in Poland, the Baltic States, the Soviet Union, Bohemia-Moravia and in Hungary.
Hasidism - Jewish movement that spread throughout Eastern Europe in the Eighteenth Century. Hasidism teaches that the divine presence is everyone (the original force!). Followers, therefore, try to live a life of total dedication to G-d.
Hebrew - The language of Jews used in prayer and study. Revived in the Nineteenth Century as an everyday language, Hebrew is the official language of the State of Israel today.
Hoshana Rabba - Generic expression for a Jewish holiday. The Nazis often instigated pogroms, deportations and mass executions on Jewish holidays. The most well-known example is the massacre that took place outside of Kiev (Ukraine, Soviet Union) on Yom Kippur 1941.
Kehila - A Jewish governmental body.
Kristallnacht - "Night of Broken Glass." The violent anti-Jewish program instigated by the Nazis on 9-10 November 1938. Anti-Jewish violence swept Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia.
Likud - A modern political party in Israel. Successor to the Betar movement.
Matzoh - Unleavened bread used at Passover.
Menorah - Seven-branched candelabra.
Mikvah - A ritual bath used for purification rituals.
Nordhausen - Concentration Camp located in the Harz Mountains in Central Germany. This camp was part of a large industrial complex used to manufacture and produce the V-2 rockets and other experimental weapons.
Nuremberg Laws - Antisemitic legislation enacted in September 1935 depriving Jews of civil rights.
Passover - Eight-day Spring festival commemorating the Jewish exodus from Egypt. In Hebrew, Pesach or Pesah.
Pogrom - A violent, organized attack on civilians-usually with the acceptance or participation of the government.
Rabbi - Literally, a teacher. Traditionally, a rabbi is not only a teacher, but also a spiritual leader ministering to the needs of a congregation by preaching, overseeing ritual observances, administering religious education and supervising religious ceremonies associated with birth, marriage and death.
Shabbat (or Shabbas) - Sabbath. The Sabbath is observed from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. Observant Jews refrain from work on the Sabbath and spend the day in prayer, relaxation and family study.
Shtetl - Yiddish term for a small village, usually a market town.
Synagogue - Jewish house of worship and study. The Yiddish word for synagogue is Shul.
Sachsenhausen - German concentration camp outside of Berlin, Germany.
Torah - The Hebrew Bible. The Five Books of Moses read during services in the synagogue.
Yiddish - The everyday language of Eastern European Jews. Yiddish is a mixture of German and Hebrew and is generally written in Hebrew characters.
Zionism - Jewish movement for the establishment and development of the State of Israel.