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267 Glossary Aktion (German: “operation,” plural Aktionen): The German roundup, deportation , and execution of Jews, especially in the Eastern European territories. Aktion Reinhard or Einsatz Reinhard (German: “Operation Reinhard”): The German code name for the planned annihilation of Polish Jews. Named for SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the plan was approved at the Wannsee Conference in January 1942. (See Timeline, January 20, 1942.) Aliyah (Hebrew: “ascent”): The immigration of Jews to Israel. See also Youth Aliyah. Aliyah Bet (Hebrew): The name given to the illegal Jewish immigration from 1934 to 1948 to British-mandated Palestine in violation of the British White Paper of 1929, in contrast to the limited legal immigration allowed at that time, known as Aliyah Aleph. Appell (German:“rollcall”):Aformoftortureinwhichconcentrationcampinmates were summoned for “roll call” and forced to stand for hours regardless of weather. Arbeit Macht Frei (German: “Work Makes One Free”): Slogan on a sign above entrance gates of some concentration and extermination camps, including Auschwitz, Dachau, and Theresienstadt, to deceive the prisoners into thinking that they were going to a labor camp and not a death camp. bar mitzvah (Hebrew: “son of the commandments”): The religious ceremony of a Jewish boy upon reaching his thirteenth birthday, at which time he assumes the religious responsibilities of an adult. The same rite of passage for a girl is called a bat mitzvah. Ben Shemen: An agricultural boarding school for children and youth founded in 1927 in central Israel. Brundibár (Czech: colloquial, “bumblebee”): The title of a children’s opera performed by the children at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in 1944 to entertain Red Cross representatives who were inspecting the camp. This performance was part of a sham the Nazis presented to impress and mislead the visitors. The deception also included improving the appearance of the camp by beautifying the grounds and deporting many of the prisoners to Auschwitz. brownouts: The dimming of street, home, and other lights to protect cities from air raids during World War II in the United States. catechism: A summary of religious doctrine, typically presented in the form of questions and answers, used in Christian teaching. 268 Glossary cava: A shepherd’s hut made out of the stone in the mountains. challah (Yiddish: khale): A kind of yeast-leavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews on the Sabbath and on holidays. It is usually braided or twisted before baking, but it can also be formed into a round shape. Comité Central Israélite: A Belgian organization that aimed to restore the Orthodox Jewish community in that country. concarda: The Greek word for the yellow Jewish star that Jews were forced to wear at all times. concentration camp (German: Konzentrationslager, KZ): An enclosed facility in which people were imprisoned without legitimate legal proceedings. Nazi concentration camps became notorious for the starvation, beatings, torture, and inhumane living conditions the prisoners there endured. These camps initially held political prisoners (1933–36). Later concentration camps (1936–45) also held nonpolitical prisoners—primarily Jews but also Roma (sometimes called Gypsies), homosexuals , and others deemed objectionable by the Nazis—as well as prisoners of war. Several million people perished in Nazi camps. convent (Latin: convenire): A local community or dwelling of a religious order, especially an establishment of Roman Catholic nuns. death marches: Evacuation of Nazi concentration camps during the winter of 1944–45, as Allied forces advanced from the east, in which the Nazis forced prisoners to march westward to other camps. Marching over long distances with little food and insufficient clothing for the weather conditions, many prisoners died along the way. Einsatzgruppen (German: “Special Action Groups”): Mobile killing squads of SS troops that followed the German armies to the Soviet Union in June 1941 and systematically murdered the Jews in the area. The killing was done by mass shootings at first and later gassing prisoners with exhaust fumes in sealed vans. Flemish: The language spoken in Flanders, a northern region in Belgium. It is a Germanic language considered a variant of Dutch. Franconia (German: Franken): An area in south-central Germany that dates back to a medieval duchy in the kingdom of the Franks. The area includes the northern parts of the present-day German states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse. gendarme (French: gendarmes, “armed people”): A police officer or a member of a body of soldiers serving as a police force to maintain public order, especially in France. German American Bund: A pro-Nazi organization of ethnic Germans living in the United States. It became active...

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