This is a list of terms frequently encountered in archivals and secondary literature when dealing with German aviation medicine in the Third Reich that require some explanation.
| Term | Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|
Alte Garde | (Engl: Old Guard); Members of the Nazi Party who were in the ranks at the time of the "Hitler-Putsch" (an attempted coup by Hitler and Ludendorff in Munich on 8th/9th November 1923). | Michael02, p. 62 Benz09 |
Alte Kämpfer | (Engl: Veterans, old fighters); Members of the Nazi Party (or affiliated organizations, such as SS and SA) who joined the party before 30th January 1933. | Michael02, p. 62 Benz09 |
Artverwandt | (Engl: Racially related); term from the Nazis' racial ideology. Those “races” the Nazis considered (genetically) related to the German/Aryan race. Under the German citizenship law in the Third Reich only those considered “deutschblütig” or “artverwandt” could hold German citizenship and therefore have full rights in Germany. | Michael02, p. 75 |
DLV | Deutscher Luftsport Verband (Engl: German Sportsflying Association), founded in 1933 by the Nazis to re-establish an air force (which was forbidden for Germany after the Treaty of Versailles in 1919). The DLV was a cloak organisation for this purpose, disguising paramilitary aviator training and re-armament as sports activity. | |
DNVP | Deutschnationale Volkspartei (Engl: National German People's Party); ultra-conservative, anti-democratic, right-wing party. Founded in 1918, it was extremely hostile against the Weimar Republic and wanted to create an authoritarian state. While votes (and thus seats in parliament) dwindled drastically through the 1920s, many of its members and sympathizers came from influential backgrounds, such as civil servants, military officers or judicial staff. It was because of this that the DNVP could help Hitler to power (see Machtergreifung) and form a coalition government with them in 1933, although they had only slightly above 8 per cent in the November 1932 general election. The DNVP was quickly bullied into resignation by the Nazis, though. | Michael02, p. 127 WikipediaEN |
DVL | Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt e.V. (Engl: German Experimental Center for Aviation), founded in 1912 and located in the Berlin suburb of Adlershof. While being a civilian association, it always had strong links to military aviation and was funded by the German government. In the Weimar Republic — when Germany was barred from having a military air force by the Treaty of Versailles —, the DVL was used to secretly develop military aircrafts etc. After World War II, the DVL was re-established first as DFVLR (Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt, German Research and Experimental Center for Aviation and Space Travel), and then later merged with other institutions into today's DLR. | |
DVP | There were several political parties in Germany with the abbreviation “DVP”: the Deutsche Volkspartei (1861—1910 and 1918—1933), a liberal party (in the European sense); the Deutschvölkische Partei (1914—1918), a nationalistic/antisemitic party; Deutsche Vaterlandspartei (1917—1928), a militaristic and nationalistic party; the Demokratische Volkspartei (1863—1933), a regional liberal party in Württemberg which was re-established in 1945, but then was absorbed into the FDP (Free Democratic Party). Unfortunately, the references in the sources to DVP used for this database don't give enough clues as to which party is referred to. | |
Deutschblütig | (Engl: Of german blood); term from the Nazis' racial ideology. Official term for the "Aryan race" in official documents. | Michael02, p. 118 |
Deutschkatholiken | (Engl: German Catholics); in the 19th century, a number of dissenting movements in Catholicism appeared in Germany, particularly after the Vatican Council of 1871 which declared the infallability of the Roman pope. In December 1844, Silesian Johannes Ronge — a former catholic priest who had been excommunicated for his dissenting views — proclaimed the “German Catholic” movement. Despite its nationalistic sounding name, it was rather liberal, not only purporting women priesthood, but also having very liberal views on sex for its time. The main motive of their opposition to the Roman-Catholic church was that they accused the latter of idolatry, in the form of pilgrimages to supposedly holy relics and catholic dogmas such as Christ's literal presence in the communion wafer. Ronge encouraged his followers to interpret the Bible in the light of reason and to reject these dogmas. The German Catholics were banned in Bavaria and Austria and remained a fringe group, never exceeding a membership of 10,000. In 1911, membership was around 2,000. German Catholicism was not accepted as Christian faith by German conservatives and likened to the Jews (obviously meant as deragatory reference) in their rejection of Christian values — when the German Catholics actually only rejected Roman Catholic interpretation of it. German Catholics were by and large superseded by the “Old Catholics”, who formed after the Vatican Council of 1871, and who are still active in Germany today. | Smith01, pp. 192–204 WikipediaEN Cross74, p. 996 |
Freikorps | (Engl: Free Corps); right-wing paramilitary units formed of WW1 veterans and students between 1918 and 1921 to fight (supposed and real) communist uprisings. Some persisted throughout the Weimar Republic, but many joined the SA and the Nazi-Party. In a few notable cases, former Freikorps members turned out as opposition to the Nazi regime, such as Martin Niemöller. | Michael02, p. 167 |
Gau | (singl., pl: Gaue) An administrative-geographical unit, comparable to a district or county. Originally the Gau was a geographical unit in Medieval Germany; the Nazis used the term for administrative divisions of their party, with the different Gaue being modeled after the constituencies in the elections in the Weimar Republic. After 1933, the Gaue were upheld by the party and extended when new territories were conquered during the war. Departments in the state, such as the Air Ministry, also used the word Gau to define subdivisions, in the case of the Air Ministry the “Luftgaue” (Engl: Air Gaue). A Gau was headed by the “Gauleiter” (Engl: Gau Leader); given the ever closer intertwining of the Nazi-Party with the German state after 30 Jan 1933, a Gauleiter — as the regional deputy of Hitler — had almost dictatorial power in his Gau, which often led to conflicts with civil servants in the regional administrations who saw their turf invaded by the Gauleiter. At first, this was promoted by Hitler as some kind of Darwinian struggle to find the best “leaders” among the German people. During the war, however, this proved to be counter-productive and so the influence of the Gauleiter was given preference to ensure that the Nazi policy was carried out unequivocally. | |
Gottgläubig | (Engl: god believing); the Nazi regime tried to clamp down on the "official" churches (i.e. the Roman Catholic church and the Protestant-Lutheran church) in order to limit — and eventually stamp out — their influence in Germany. To offer some exit route to Germans who were willing to leave their church, but wanted to maintain their faith, the Ministry of the Interior filed a regulation in 1936 that labeled such persons as "gottgläubig". In the 1939 census, only 5.14 per cent of Germans identified themselves as such, showing the limited success of the Nazi policy against the churches. The Roman-Catholic and the Protestant-Lutheran churches were the "official" churches because only they had treaties with the state to deliver religious services (e.g. in schools or the military) and received tax money for that; the Nazis instigated those treaties in 1933 chiefly to draw conservatives to their side. | Benz98, pp. 196ff., 493 Michael02, p. 194 Granzow06 |
Machtergreifung | (Engl: power grab); a term often used to describe the Nazis seizing power on 30 January 1933. The Nazi-Party itself liked to term it “National Revolution” (German: Nationale Revolution) or “National Uprising” (German: Nationale Erhebung). All these terms are somewhat inaccurate, though. After early 1932, the Nazi-Party was losing votes in the general elections and the economy showed slight signs of recovery. It was the frail president Paul von Hindenburg who was talked into appointing Hitler as chancellor by ulta-conservative advisors; the office of president in the Weimar Republic having had almost dictatorial powers (such as dissolving parliament, dismissing the government, and installing a new government, among other things). The “Machtergreifung” was therefore far from being a revolution, but more like a coup by ultra-conservatives who were hoping they could use Hitler to abolish democracy (and got more than they bargained for). | Michael02, p. 269 |
Märzgefallene | (Engl: Those fallen in March); Members of the Nazi Party who joined between January and March 1933, supposedly for opportunistic reasons. In March 1933 the Nazi Party suspended any new memberships, because the party office was flooded with applications for membership after the Machtergreifung. The idea of the Nazi Party was to be an elite of the German people, with a maximum of 10 percent of the population as party members. Especially those joining after the 30th of January 1933 were frowned upon as opportunists by veteran party members. The ban was lifted in 1937, but soon re-established; and then again lifted during the war in 1943, but had again to be put in place because of the overwhelming numbers of applicants. The term “Märzgefallene” mockingly refers to Republican street-fighters killed during the March 1849 riots in Berlin (as part of the 1848/49 revolution in Germany, which tried to establish a democratic state). | Michael02, p. 272 Benz09 |
NSBO | Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellenorganisation (Engl: National Socialist Factory Cell Organization); a Nazi-Party affiliated workers organization. It was formed in 1927 and officially launched in 1928 as competition to the more left-wing trade unions in Germany. It had little success, however, until the Nazis banned all unions in May 1933. The NSBO was short-lived, on the other hand, as the broader Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF, German Workers Front) absorbed the NSBO in 1935. | WikipediaEN |
NSDAP | Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (Engl: National Socialist German Workers' Party); usually referred to as "Nazi-Party". | Michael02, p. 287 |
NSDAP-AO | NSDAP Auslandsorganisation (Engl: Nazi-Party Overseas Organisation). Founded in 1931, coordinated activities of the Nazis in foreign countries, such as party branches. The AO was considered and administered as its own Gau. | Michael02, p. 81 |
NSDB | Nationalsozialistischer Dozentenbund (Engl: National Socialist Lecturer Alliance); Nazi-Party organisation for university lecturers and professors. After 1933 the local chapters gained considerable influence over their respective universities. This was chiefly because the Nazis didn't have a masterplan for science and education (other than driving out Jewish staff and other unwanted persons). In principle, the university's president was supposed to be the leader of his institution, with dictatorial power. In most cases however, NSDB officers could establish themselves as dominating force; in other cases the Gauleiter tried to steer the administration of the universities in his area. When applying for academic posts, applicants not only had to prove that they are deutschblütig or artverwandt, officers from the NSDB and NSDStB also had to give statements on the applicant's political conformance (and scientific credits). Membership in the Nazi-Party or in one of its organisations obvioulsy helped to quell any doubts about one's political stance. There were a number of cases where academics were picked for their party membership, rather than their scientific credentials. | Benz98, p. 608 |
NSDFB | Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Frontkämpferbund (Engl: National Socialist German Veteran's League). | Michael02, p. 288 |
NSDStB | Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund (Engl: National Socialist German Student Alliance); a Nazi-Party student organisation, founded in 1926. From 1933 on , all German university students had to be a member of the NSDStB. | Michael02, p. 288 |
NSDÄB | Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Ärztebund (Engl: National Socialist German Doctors' Alliance); founded in 1929, one of the many Nazi organisations, with little influence. | Michael02, p. 288 |
NSFK | Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps (Engl: National Socialist Flyers Corps); founded in 1937 as successor to the DLV. After the offical inception of the Luftwaffe in 1935, the aeronautical scene had to be re-organised, as the DLV was used to build up a military air force before 1935 under a civilian disguise. Despite its name, the NSFK was not a Nazi-Party affiliated organisation. Its legal status was that of a public sector department, its funding came from the Air Ministry, and all its equipment and real estate was property of the state (though some of the real estate was leased from private ownership). But, obviously, due to the close intertwining of state and Nazi-Party in the Third Reich, this separation is somewhat virtual. | |
NSKK | Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps (Engl: National Socialist Motor Transport Corps); until 1939, used as paramilitary organization to train recruits to military transport units. | Michael02, p. 289 |
NSKOV | Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (Engl: National Socialist War Victims Welfare Service); a Nazi-Party run charity for war veterans. | Michael02, p. 288 |
NSLB | Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund (Engl: National Socialist Teacher's Association); from 1933 on, all teachers had to be member of the NSLB to ensure political/ideological compliance. | Michael02, p. 297 |
NSRB | Nationalsozialistischer Rechtswahrerbund (Engl: National Socialist Lawyer's Association), founded in 1928 as Bund Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Juristen (BNDJ, Engl: Federation of National Socialist German Lawyers) as Nazi-Party organization, and re-named in 1936 to NSRB. | Michael02, p. 288 |
NSV | Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (Engl: National Socialist People's Welfare), a charity run by the Nazi party. | Michael02, p. 289 |
Opferring | (Engl: Sacrificial Circle). Oddly enough, this organization was offcially not a part of the NSDAP, although its sole purpose was to collect donations for the Nazi-Party. Non-party members (there were bans on new memberships in place after April 1933, see above) could prove their sympathies for the Nazis by either doing “honorary” duty (i.e. collecting money) for the party, or by donating money to the party. | Michael02, p. 303 |
RLB | Reichslehrerbund (Engl: Reich Teacher's Alliance), see NSLB. | Michael02, p. 399 |
SA | Sturmabteilung (Engl: Storm Detachment); also know as Brown Shirts because of their brown uniforms. Founded in 1923 to function as Nazi-Party troops to fight political enemies, chiefly to secure Nazi-Party rallies, and attacking the rallies of political opponents. The SA was the party's terror arm, so to speak, devised to intimidate and physically attack opponents of the Nazi-Party. In 1934 the SA was crushed as it had grown too strong, and after the Machtergreifung and initial terror acts against the remaining political opposition a street fighting squad was no longer needed, and SS and Wehrmacht getting concerned about the amibitons of SA-leaders. | Michael02, p. 391 |
SPD | Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Engl: Social Democratic Party of Germany). The only party to vote against the Enabling Act in 1933 (the Communists were incarcerated already). | |
SS | Schutzstaffel (Engl: Security Squad); formed in 1925 as Hitler's bodyguards. Later was developed into an elite of the Nazi-Party, and separated into several sections, such as Waffen-SS (military unit) or Totenkopf-SS (Engl: Skull-SS, used as concentration camp guards and staff). Initially, prerequisites to join the SS were extremely high, but were lowered for the Waffen-SS during the war because of demand for more recruits. Being member of the SS certainly furthered one's career prospects, especially when applying for tenured academic jobs, where political compliance was compulsory and queried (see NSDB). | Michael02, p. 366 |
VDA | Volksbund für das Deutschtum im Ausland (Engl: People's Federation for the Germandom in Foreign Countries (literal), better: Organization for Germans Abroad). Organization offering assistance for German schools etc abroad. | Michael02, p. 422 |
