History

1. Dictatorship : It is a form of government in which a person or a group of persons possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations.
2. Nazism : A political system introduced by Hitler in Germany. Akin to dictatorship and fascism, it also propagated extreme hatred against the Jews.
3. Nazi : The short form of Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party. Formed by Hitler in 1921, it propagated Nazism.
4. Axis Powers : Italy, Germany and Japan formed the axis powers.
5. Allied Powers : Britain, France, Russia and U.S.A. were the allied powers.
6. Second World War : The global war which took place from September 1939 to May 1945 in which over 50 million people were killed and many cities were reduced to rubble.
7. The great Depression : A worldwide economic slump lasting from 1929 to 1935. During these years, trade between nations dropped and around 25 million people lost their jobs.
8. Pearl Harbor : Situated on the Hawaiian island of Honolulu, it was the main base of the US pacific fleet. Japanese planes launched from aircraft carriers attacked the base on 7th December 1941. They destroyed 120 aircraft and killed 2,400 people.
9. Gestapo : Short for Geheime Staatspolizei, the secret state police in Nazi Germany. It had the power to arrest people without trial and torture and kill them. As a result they were the most hated and feared organisation in Nazi-occupied Europe.
10. Holocaust : It comes from the Greek word holos and kautos which literally means ‘completely burnt’. It is used to describe the persecution and mass murder of Jews by German Nazis between 1933 and 1945.
11. Semite : Usually someone who belongs to any of the peoples of South-west Asia, especially Jews and Arabs. In Nazi Germany the word was used to describe only Jewish people.
12. Reichstag : The name given to the German Parliament
13. Reparation : Making up for a wrong done.
14. Wall Street Exchange : The name of the world’s biggest stock exchange located in the U.S.A.
15. Propaganda : Specific type of message directly aimed at influencing the opinion of people through the use of posters, films and speechs.
16. Concentration camp. : A camp where people were isolated and detained without the due process of law.
17. Persecution : Systematic, organised punishment of those belonging to a group or religion.
18. Jung volk : Nazi youth groups for children below 14 years of age.