Rena’s Promise
Unit Vocabulary
Holocaust Terms
Allies: The nations fighting Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during
World War II, primarily Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the
United States.
Antisemitism: Dislike or hatred of Jews.
Aryan: Term used by the Nazis to describe northern European
physical characteristics –” racially superior.”
Axis: The Axis powers, originally Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy,
extended to Japan when it entered the war.
Concentration Camp: Camps in which Jews were imprisoned by the
Nazis, located in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe. There were
three different kinds of camps: transit, labor and extermination. Many
prisoners in concentration camps died within months of arriving from
violence or starvation.
Extermination (death) Camp: Six major camps designed and built for
the sole purpose of killing Jews (Final Solution). These were:
Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and
Treblinka.
Holocaust Terms continued
Fascism: social/political ideology that the state is the highest
priority rather than personal freedoms
Final Solution: Term used by the Nazis to describe their plan to
annihilate the entire Jewish population of Europe.
Ghetto: A section of a city where Jews were forced to live, usually
with several families living in one house, separated from the rest of
the city by walls or wire fences, and used primarily as a station for
gathering Jews for deportation to concentration camps.
Holocaust: Term first used in the late 1950s to describe the
systematic torture and murder of approximately six million
European Jews and millions of other "undesirables" by the Nazi
regime from 1933 to 1945. It literally translates to completely
burned sacrifice or offering.
Pogrom: An organized, state-sponsored attack on a group of
people.
Holocaust Terms – last slide
Prejudice: This is a preconceived opinion that is not based on
reason or actual experience.
Propaganda: false or partly false information used by a
government to sway opinions of the population
SS: Schutzstaffel; the German army’s elite guard, organized to serve
as Hitler’s personal protectors and to administer the concentration
camps
Stereotype: This is a a widely held but fixed and oversimplified
image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
Swastika: Once an ancient symbol used to ward off evil spirits, the
Nazis adopted it as their official symbol
“Tylicz” Vocabulary
Entangle: (v) to make tangled, ensnarled, intertwine
Gentile: (adj.) of or pertaining to any people not Jewish
Orthodox: (adj) of, pertaining to, or conforming to the approved form
of any doctrine, philosophy, ideology, etc.
Palpitate: (v) to pulsate, quiver, throb, tremble, usually from emotion,
exertion, or disease
Placate: (v) to appease or pacify
Solemn: (adj) grave or somber, as a person, the face, speech, tone, or
mood
Synagogue: (n) a Jewish house of worship
Yom Kippur: (n) a Jewish high holy day observed abstinence from
food or drink and by the daylong recitation of prayers of repentance in
the synagogue
“Slovakia” Vocabulary
Acrid: (adj.) having a strong an unpleasant taste or smell
Benevolent: (adj) well-meaning and kindly
Challah: (n) a loaf of rich white bread prepared especially or the Jewish Sabbath
Emanate: (v) originate from or be produced from
Fetid: (adj) smelling extremely unpleasant
Obtrusive: (adj) noticeable in an unwelcome way
Onslaught: (n) a fierce or destructive attack
Plight: (n) a dangerous, difficult, or otherwise perilous situation
Resonate: (v) to produce or be filled with a deep reverberating sound
Sabbath: (n) the 7th day of the week, Saturday, as the day of rest and religious
observance among Jews and some Christians. Note: most Christians regard
Sunday as the Sabbath in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ
“Auschwitz” Vocabulary
Abject: (adj) extremely bad, unpleasant, degrading
Babushka: (n) a woman’s scarf, often triangular, used as a
hood with two ends tied around the chin
Complacent: (adj) showing uncritical satisfactions with one’s
achievements
Derisive: (adj) expressing ridicule
Dissention: (n) disagreement
Insignia: (n) a badge or distinguishing mark of rank, office,
or membership of an organization,
Lacerate: (v) tear or make deep cuts in
“Auschwitz” Vocab continued
Lorries: (n) trucks (similar to semi/dump trucks)
Presumptuous: (adj) failing to observe the limits of what is
appropriate
Prevalent: (adj) widespread in a particular area at a particular time
Reprimand: (n) an official rebuke
Stricken: (v – past participle of strike) or (adj) affected by an
undesirable condition
Stoic: (n) someone who can withstand pain or hardship without
expressing emotions or complaining
Vestige: (n) a trace of something that no longer exists or is
disappearing
Vigilant: (adj) keeping careful watch
“Birkenau” Vocabulary
Dissuade: (v) persuade someone to NOT take a course of
action
Epidemic: (adj) affecting many people at one time (as in
disease), prevalent, widespread
Incredulous: (adj) unwilling or unable to believe something
Incessant: (adj) continuing without pause or interruption
Pilfer: (v) steal
“Birkenau” Vocab continued
Provocation: (n) action or speech that makes someone angry
Stalwart: (adj or n) reliable, loyal, hardworking
Supersede: (v) take the place of someone previously in
authority
Trepidation: (n) a feeling of fear or agitation that something
may happen