My Weblog

Home
Archives
LNSG
Pan-Nationalism

March 2008
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     
Home » Archives » March 2008 » Dictionary of Forbidden German Words released

[Previous entry: "Iron cross may return to German military"] [Next entry: "Sexual degeneracy of European women"]

03/08/2008: "Dictionary of Forbidden German Words released"


Dozens of words in the German language, from "degenerate" to "final solution," have become taboo because of their use by the Nazis.

The "Wörterbuch der 'Vergangenheitsbewältigung'" ("Dictionary of 'Coming to Terms with the Past'") examines around 1,000 words and phrases -- everything from "Anschluss," used to refer to the 1938 "annexation" of Austria, to "Wehrmacht," the name of the Nazi-era armed forces -- looking at how the meaning and usage of the terms have developed since the end of World War II.

Another reason for avoiding Nazi terms in public discourse is the fact that the speaker runs the risk of being accused of harboring Nazi sympathies. Often such a usage is enough to land the speaker on the
front pages of Germany's newspapers. Often such a usage is enough to land the speaker on the
front pages of Germany's newspapers.

The late head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Paul Spiegel, courted controversy in 2005 when he criticized German policy on which Jews were allowed to immigrate from the former Soviet Union by saying that Russian Jews were being "selected."

[ You mean that more censorship came AFTER the Nazis than DURING their reign? Amusing. ]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,531900,00.html