World War II: NAZI Terminology


Figure 1.--This photograph of Austrian children was taken in 1942. It is entitled on the back, "Grossdeutschlands Wiedergeburt: Österreichische Kinder fahrens ins Altreich". We translate this as "Greater Germany's rebirth: Austrian children go (by train) to the the old Reich." The banner over the building reads, "20,000 Kinder aus Wien finden Erholung im Reich" which means "Children from Vienna find recovery in the Reich." I am not sure what is going on here or what the children are recovering from. But for some reason 20,000 Vienna children are being transported to some where in the Reich. A German reader tells us that the photograph here was taken at the Vienna Westbahnhof station. Vienna in 1942 was not yet being bombed by the Allies so I am not sure why the children are being moved. Perhaps some of our readers will know. Note the symbol to the left of the banner which looks to be an "N" with a music note or other symbol in the middle. This was the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV) emblem. Click on the image to see the back of the card. (This was a stereo-view card.)

Transporting Austrian Children (1942)

This photograph of Austrian children was taken in 1942. It is entitled on the back, "Grossdeutschlands Wiedergeburt: Österreichische Kinder fahrens ins Altreich". We translate this as "Greater Germany's rebirth: Austrian children go (by train) to the the old Reich." The banner over the building reads, "20,000 Kinder aus Wien finden Erholung im Reich" which means "Children from Vienna find recovery in the Reich." I am not sure what is going on here or what the children are recovering from. But for some reason 20,000 Vienna children are being transported to some where in the Reich. I guessed that the building here is a railroad station, perhaps in Munich--primarily because the photograph was printed in Munich. The main Munich train station is now an ugly post-War building so it must have been destroyed in the war. Therefore it is difficult to tell if this is a Munich scene.) A German reader writes, "I hve found where the photograph was taken. I was able to make out the name of the station at the top of the building. This photograph was taken in Vienna. It's not the children's arrival, but rather their departure. The building is the old Vienna Westbahnhof which was also destroyed later in the War. (One of the objectives of the Allied stategic bombing campaign was the Germans transportation and communications system. Thus train stations wee commonly targeted.) Vienna in 1942 was not yet being bombed by the Allies so I am not sure why the children are being moved. Perhaps some of our readers will know.

Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV)

Note the symbol to the left of the banner which looks to be an "N" with a music note or other symbol in the middle. I wasn't sure at first what that symbolized." This symbol is the sign of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV). This mean the National Socialist People's Welfare. The NSV at first helped poor families with financial benefits, a kind of welfare. The NSV gradually shifted to performing services aiding poor families like organizing and managing day care centers, caring for children, assistance to youth and pregnant women, and various family health and nutrition programs. The NSV was established (May 3, 1933). There may have been an early progra, but until the NAZIs seized power and had the authority of the German Government at its disposal as well as swelling ranks of Party members could the NSV run significant programs. The NSV was the umbrella organization for a range of social and welfare programs. It was organized on the same basis as the NAZI Party. There was a central office in Berlin and then regional offices in each Gau. Germany in 1933 was severely affected by the Depression. With the NAZI rearmament program as well as the RAD program, the unenployment proble disappeared. As a result by 1938 the NSV began shifting from welfare programs to promoting services. A major effort was day care for worker's families. Here there was some competition with day care programs run by churches. A anjor slogan at NSV day care centers was "Hände falten, Köpfchen senken - immer an Adolf Hitler denken"--Hands folded, head lowered - always of Adolf Hitler thinking“. With the advent of the War, the NSV became the principal national effort devoted to children and youth welfare efforts. The NSV managed several different programs. One of the best known was the Mutter und Kind program which cared for pregant women. (I believe this was entirely different than the Lebensborn progrm which took the choldren away from the mothers.) The NSV also supported mothers in various ways, especially in the case of emergencies. One source indicated tht the NSV was financed through voluntary contributions of its members which increased from 1 million in 1938 to 11 million during the War. The NSV began publishing the ??? (National Socialist people service) magazine in 1933. It also began publishing a series of books ???? (Eternal Germany) in 1936. NSV leaders desired to make the organization the exclusive German welfare agency. While they administered a wide range of programs, they never managed to become the only German social welfare organization. There were a range of workers' welfare institution (AWOs). Other important groups were the German Red Cross and Caritas. One source indicates that NAZI racial overtones gradually appeared in the NSV progams, but we do not have details at this time.

NAZI Terminology: Reich

The word Reich was very commonly used by the NAZIs. It was a German word, but not nearly as commonly used as it was during the NAZI era or Third Reich. Imperial Germany was the Second Reich, but the term was almost never used. In NAZI Germany everything became connected to the Reich: Reichsbahn (German Railways), Reichsdeutscher (German citizen as opposed to Volksdeutscher), Reichsminister, etc. Großdeutschlands Wiedergeburt means Greater Germany's rebirth. I am tempted to call Großdeutschland Super-Germany, the way the Nazis looked at it. Österreichische means Austrian. Austria became a province in Greater Germany. The NAZIs used the term Altreich to refer to the not so old Imperial Germany before the Hilerite World War II conquests. Of course some of the conquests were recovdring territory lost in World War I so I am not exactly sure what the Altreich was.






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Created: 3:52 AM 5/9/2006
Last updated: 4:41 AM 9/20/2009