Auschwitz 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.