Beethoven Ludwig von Beethoven; a native of Bonn, Germany, produced dramatic romantic music for piano, strings, orchestra, and ballet. Because of the immediacy and emotional intensity of his works, Nazi laws ban Jewish instrumentalists from playing Beethoven's music. Even more identifiable with the myth of the "master race" were the works of Wagner, which devout Jews are still reluctant to perform.
meister (my stuhr) German for "master."
Haifa (hy fuh) the major port and rail center of Israel. Haifa lies sixty-five miles north of Tel Aviv.
Aryan (ayr ee uhn) Hitler believed that there was an Aryan race, which included Germans—and all other races, including the Jews, were inferior. According to Hitler, "Aryans" were statuesque, blond, and blue-eyed. Ironically, Hitler had none of these traits. In addition, he was wrong about the word "Aryan." The word refers to a group of languages. There is no such thing as an Aryan race. Race, in the nineteenth century, was used in all sorts of contexts. Yet it was linked, so the argument went, with one's "blood," something we would call genetics today. Hitler picked up on this misunderstanding and argued that there was something intrinsically inferior in the Jews' blood which rendered their whole person inferior. Hitler's ideas were wrong. How could the Nazis have called the Jews a race when people of all kinds can convert to Judaism. Jews are members of both a religious and an ethnic group—not a race.
Metro (may troh) the Paris subway system.
Himmler head of the SS. An ambitious power-monger, Heinrich Himmler served as Reichsführer, or second in command, to Hitler and expanded the secret police into a fearful network. The "final solution," or total annihilation of all Jews, was Himmler's prime task. Ousted by Martin Bormann in April 1945, he poisoned himself May 23, 1945.
Lagerkapo (lah guhr kah poh) German for "head of camp."
pipel (pee p'l) German for a "young apprentice" or "assistant."
Oberkapo (oh buhr kah poh) German for "overseer."
