1. Home
  2. Education
  3. European History
photo of Robert Wilde

Robert's European History Blog

By Robert Wilde, About.com Guide to European History since 2001

German Dictionary Outlines Words to Avoid

Saturday March 1, 2008
World War Two left a mark on Europe in many ways and in Germany that included a whole range of words associated with Nazi government and practice being effectively frozen out of the language. For instance, the words include the more obvious like Endlösung (Final Solution, the Nazi programme of genocide against Jews) to the more obscure, like ‘degenerate’ or ‘selection’. A new dictionary, the Wörterbuch der 'Vergangenheitsbewältigung' or Dictionary of 'Coming to Terms with the Past’ examines roughly a 1000 words and phrases which have become tainted by their Nazi associations. Spiegel Online has more information.

Comments

No comments yet. Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>

Explore European History

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Education
  3. European History

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.