1346 (Year)
Marks the beginning of the European outbreak of the Plague, which at the time killed somewhere between 75-200 million people, perhaps half of the entire European population
79 (Year)
The year Mount Vesuvius, a volcano near Naples, erupted, obliterating the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and suddenly killing perhaps 10,000.
angst
(German) Fear
apfel
(German) Apple
arschgrobbler
(German) Ass-scratcher
arschloch
(German) Asshole
Aryan race
A pseudoscientific categorization of Northern European peoples; the Nazis argued that this race was superior to all others and would dominate the Earth
auch
(German) Also
auf wiedersehen
(German) Goodbye, literally "until we see again"
aufmachen
(German) Open
bahnhof
(German) Train station
bitte
(German) Excuse me; can also mean "you're welcome" or "please"
burgermeister
(German) Mayor
Dachau concentration camp
An infamous concentration camp where about 32,000 prisoners died in total; while Dachau was not an extermination camp per se, about 30,000 Jews were gassed there
danke schön
(German) The German equivalent of "thank you very much"
Deutschland uber Alles
"Germany Above All," a line in the German national anthem and patriotic slogan
dreckiges
(German) Dirty
Duden Dictionary
A German reference dictionary, first published in 1880, that is generally considered to be the standard of German spelling and pronunciation
dummkopf
(German) Stupid head
elend
(German) Misery
frau
(German) Miss
Führer
(German) Leader; exclusively refers to Adolf Hitler
gelegenheit
(German) Opportunity
Gestapo
The Nazi secret police, which was empowered to find and eliminate those accused of treason or hiding Jews
gottverdammt
(German) God-damn it
grotesquerie
The quality of being grotesque or morbid
gut
(German) Good
heil
(German) Hail; used as a Nazi salutation
herr
(German) Mister
himmel
(German) Heaven; also the name of the street the Hubermans live on
Hochdeutsch
(German) High German, standard German speech (as opposed to Low German, which includes dialects and any non-standard speech)
ja
(German) Yes
Jesse Owens
(1913-1980) Black American athlete and record-breaking runner who achieved worldwide fame after winning four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin; Hitler was reportedly embarrassed by the victory of a black athlete, which served to counter Nazi propaganda claiming the superiority of the white "Aryan" race
Juden
(German) Jews
kind
(German) Child
Knoller
A certain pub where Hans Hubermann plays the accordion for money
komm
(German) Come; the form "kommst" means "coming"
Kommunisten
(German) Communists; advocates of the communal ownership of property in a classless and stateless society, an ideal first described in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; the Soviet Union, with which Nazi Germany was at war from 1941 onward, was a nominally Communist nation, and German Communists were persecuted nearly as badly as the Jews by the Nazis
Kristallnacht
(German) "Crystal night"; a coordinated nationwide attack on all Jews in Germany involving lynchings and mob violence against Jews; so called because of the broken glass of shops owned by Jews
lovelily
In a lovely manner
Luft Schutz Raum (LSR)
(German) Air-Raid Shelter
Luftschutzwart
(German) Air-raid supervisor, generally charged with keeping order in a bomb shelter
maler
(German) Painter
Mein Kampf
(German) "My Struggle"; a book written by Adolf Hitler in which he outlines the views of the Nazi Party and ferociously attacks Jews
nachtrauern
(German) Regret
nein
(German) No
NSDAP
National Socialist German Workers' Party, the Nazi Party
richtig
(German) Correct
saukarl
(German) An insult meaning "pig"; the masculine form of "saumensch"
saumensch
(German) An insult meaning "pig"; the feminine form of "saukarl"
scheisse
(German) Shit
scheisskopf
(German) Shithead
schimpferei
(German) Scolding
schmunzel
(German) Smile
schneidermeister
(German) Master-tailor
schnell
(German) Hurry, as a command
schweigen
(German) Silence
schwein
(German) Swine
scythe
A long, curved tool used to reap crops or cut down grass; popular depictions of Death usually include one
sehr
(German) Very
seig
(German) Victory; when combined with "heil," a Nazi rallying call typically accompanied with the Nazi salute, which is the extension of one's right arm at a 45-degree angle, palm down
sickle
Similar to a scythe, an agricultural tool used to reap or mow; in contrast to a scythe, the blade of a sickle is a curved hook; some depictions of Death include one
strasse
(German) Street
und
(German) And
verstehst
(German) Understand, in the 2nd person
verzeihung
(German) Forgiveness
warte
(German) Wait
watschen
(German) A beating
Weihnachten
(German) Christmas
wort
(German) Word
zufriedenheit
(German) Happiness
