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GERMAN 'ORWELLSPEAK'

New dictionary declares certain words TABOO
FROM 'ANSCHLUSS' TO 'ZYKLON B'
New Dictionary Highlights Nazi Words to Avoid

BERLIN — Dozens of words in the German language, from "degenerate" to "final solution," have become taboo because of their use by the Nazis. A new dictionary of Third Reich terms provides a guide through the linguistic minefield.

POLITICALLY INCORRECT
Above: A poster in the National Socialist
campaign against "degenerate" music.
Now the word itself has been declared — TABOO!

As if German weren't hard enough. Three genders, endlessly long words, verbs coming at the end of impossibly rambling sentences.

But there is another, more subtle, linguistic trap which both Germans and non-Germans can easily fall into — and which is far worse a faux pas than a mere slip of the article.

Mention that you've found the "Endlösung" ("final solution") to a problem you've been grappling with, or that you've made a "Selektion" ("selection") from a number of possible
alternatives, and you will quickly find yourself the target of disapproving stares.

The reason is simple — the aforementioned words are so tainted by their use by the Nazis that they are now completely taboo.

To modern German ears, "Endlösung" will forever be associated with Hitler's genocidal "Final Solution to the Jewish Question," while "Selektion" is now verbum non grata due to its use to refer to the death camp practice of "selecting" inmates to be executed.

Taboo 'Nazi' terms

Now a new dictionary examines just what roles such terms play in the collective German psyche. The "Wörterbuch der 'Vergangenheitsbewältigung'" ("Dictionary of 'Coming to
Terms with the Past'") examines around 1,000 words and phrases — everything from "Anschluss," used to refer to the 1938 "annexation" of Austria, to "Wehrmacht," the name of the Nazi-era armed forces — looking at how the meaning and usage of the terms have developed since the end of World War II.

German studies professor Georg Stötzel, who co-authored the dictionary together with Thorsten Eitz, explains how the words disappeared from the language after the end of the war.

"There are very few terms associated with the Nazis which continued to be used with the same meaning after 1945," he told SPIEGEL ONLINE in an interview. In fact, as early as
the late 1940s, German intellectuals like Dolf Sternberger and Wilhelm Süskind — father of Patrick Süskind, author of the bestseller "Perfume" — were writing essays examining
the newly taboo Nazi terms.

Risk of being accused of 'Nazi' sympathies

For many, the simple power of the words and their associations made them literally unspeakable. That applied especially to victims of the Nazis. "Survivors simply couldn't bear to hear the word 'Lager,'" says Stötzel, referring to the German term for concentration or death camp. [Actually, "Lager" means simply "camp," nothing else.—Ed.]

Another reason for avoiding Nazi terms in public discourse is the fact that the speaker runs the risk of being accused of harbouring Nazi sympathies. Often such a usage is enough to land the speaker on the front pages of Germany's newspapers.

Paul Spiegel, the late head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany [who was forced to step down following a drugs and six scandal—Ed.], courted controversy in 2005 when he criticized German policy on which Jews were allowed to immigrate from the former Soviet Union by saying that Russian Jews were being "selected."

Similarly, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Meisner, was heavily criticized last year when he used the word "entartete" ("degenerate") in a speech about art. The word is taboo — particularly in that context — because of its use by the Nazis to condemn modern art.

As it happens, the Catholic Church is one of the institutions which is quickest to make comparisons with the Third Reich, another linguistic phenomenon which Eitz and Stötzel's dictionary examines.

'Holocaust® on Your Plate'

Other groups which have few qualms about comparing their opponents with Hitler, or undesirable phenomena with Auschwitz, include environmental and peace groups, Stötzel explains. "These groups feel they have the moral right to make explicit comparisons with the Nazis," he says.

Such comparisons also get instant media attention — and frequently condemnation. The controversial Archbishop Meisner was also the target of criticism in this regard when he made an implicit comparison between an abortion pill and the Zyklon B poison gas used [as a sanitary disinfectant—Ed.] by the Nazis in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, while other Catholic campaigners have coined the term "Babycaust" by analogy with "Holocaust" to condemn abortion. Meanwhile German animal rights activists attracted attention with an anti-factory farming campaign entitled "Holocaust on Your Plate."

But you don't even need to use Nazi-tainted terms to get into trouble. Just using the same rhetorical techniques as Joseph Goebbels, king of Third Reich propaganda, and other leading Nazis can land you in hot water.

Former Vice Chancellor Franz Müntefering found this out the hard way in 2005 when he described hostile foreign investors as "locusts." Müntefering, who belongs to the left wing of the Social Democratic Party, was criticized for comparing people with animals, a trope considered deeply problematic due to the Nazi practice of portraying Jews as parasites and vermin.

"Sixty years later, people are still being compared to animals and plagues which have to be destroyed," wrote historian Michael Wolffsohn in a damning essay. 'Reich' and 'Mädel' suspect words

Interestingly, it's precisely those groups who presumably most admire the Nazis who take the most care to avoid using specifically Third Reich terms. Far-right parties such as the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) flirt with Nazi ideology while avoiding taboo terms. "You can recognize the implication but you can't accuse them of using Nazi
terminology," says Stötzel.

For example, senior NPD politician Holger Apfel has talked of his party's ambition to win seats in the "Reichstag," using the pre-1945 term for the German government instead of the modern "Bundestag" — today, "Reichstag" can only be used in politically correct German to refer to the historical parliament building, not the institution.

But perhaps the taint of at least some Nazi terms may fade with time. Take the word "Mädel," for example, a dialect word for "girl" which was favored by the Nazis. Its Third Reich connotations appear to be lost on young Germans today, many of whom use the word — often ironically — without a second thought. "Young people don't know it was used by the Nazis," says Stötzel.

MORE DUMBING DOWN

Comic books replacing factual history in German schools

First it was Allied wartime hate propaganda about "Nazi atrocities." Then it was follow-up by Hollywood, Steven Spielberg "docudramas" and "Anne Frank" fantasy novels. Now it is comic books for a semi-literate generation no longer capable of critical thought. Here, once again, are all the old, stale, recycled stereotypes in a new format.

German children taught graphic truth about Nazis

BERLIN — German students were yesterday given a colorful insight into the darkest chapter in 20th-century history, in the form of a comic book on the Holocaust®.

A far cry from your average history textbook, Die Suche (The Search), uses bold graphics to chronicle the fictional story of Esther, a woman who unearths the truth about her Jewish family who were deported to Auschwitz.

"Through the comic format, the subject becomes more realistic and closer to home for young people," Julia Franz, from the Anne Frank Zentrum, told the Guardian. "There is definitely a huge knowledge gap among teenagers. Most know about the Third Reich but there are lots of myths, prejudices and misunderstandings."

The Anne Frank Zentrum, which works to boost awareness and knowledge about the Holocaust®, has distributed the graphic novel to schools in Berlin and North Rhein-Westphalia. It will be used by 20 classes of 13-15-year-olds. If it is a success, the material will be used by other schools across the country. In a parallel project, schools in
Poland and Hungary are also using the book in lessons.

This rollicking George Lincoln Rockwell spoof
on the celebrated Holocaust® myth shocked Jews
everywhere when it appeared in the 1960s.

It is the second of two graphic novels illustrated by Eric Heuvel on the subject. The first, A Family Secret, was published in 2003. The books, which are both available in English, are the brainchild of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, a museum housed in the building where Anne hid.

Die Suche's creators took great care to keep the fictional saga factually accurate [sic]. Historians were closely involved with the project and many of the drawings are based on original Nazi-era photographs.

In Germany, which this week marks the 75th anniversary of Hitler's elevation to German chancellor, many fear that young people are disinterested in or misinformed about this important chapter of history.

However, the Anne Frank Zentrum has found that using comic books to liven up lessons is old hat for many teachers. "There was no initial skepticism about the comic-book format for this purpose," Franz said. "In fact, it turned out that many teachers we spoke to had already used Astérix in their history lessons."