German WWII Glossary

ABBREVIATION	GERMAN TERM	ENGLISH EQUIVALENT
- -	Abitur	Equivalent of a High School
AOK	Armee Oberkommando	Army Command
AK	Armeekorps	Corps Command
BDM	Bund Deutscher Mädel	League of German Girls
d.G.	der Generalstab	German General Staff Officer (member of the trained elite corps)
- -	Ersatz	Coffee substitute
- -	Einsatzgruppen/Einsatzkommandos	SS-Special Forces deployed behind the front lines to exterminate Jews and Gypsies.
- -	Frauenschaft	National Socialist Womens Organisation
- -	Freifrau/Freiin	Baroness
- -	Freiherr	Baron
- -	Freikorps	Military units formed to fight the German revolutionaries in 1918-1920, after the Army itself had largely disintegrated after the defeat in WWI.
- -	Freisler Storch	Small, light aircraft with short take-off and landing runs, making it an ideal aircraft for the transport of VIPs.
FüHQ	Führer Hauptquartier	Hitler's Headquarters
- -	Gauleiter	Regional Party Official
Gestapo	Geheime Staatspolizei	Secret State Police
- -	Graf	Count
- -	Gräfin	Countess
HJ	Hitler Jugend	Hitler Youth
ID	Infantrie Division	Infantry Division
i.G.	im Generalstab	Officer serving in a staff position
IR	Infantrie-Regiment	Infantry Regiment
KPD	Kommunistischer Partei Deutschland	German Communist Party
KZ	Konzentrationslager	Concentration Camp
- -	Kreishauptleute	Occupied Poland was divided into Districts (Distrikte), each headed by a Governor (Gouverneur), which were divided into rural regions (Kreise) headed by a Kreishauptman. These were usually simultaneously the local party leader or "Standortführer" for their region.
- -	Kreisleiter	Local Party Official
- -	Kübelwagen	VW car, frequenly used as a staff car.
NKFD	National Kommittee Freies Deutschland	Organisation of German POWs in the Soviet Union
NS	Nationalsozialistisch(e/er)	Nazi (adjuctive)
NSDAP	Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei	Nazi Party (subjective)
MG	Maschinengewehr	Machine gun
OB	Oberbefehshaber	Commanding Officer/CO
OKH	Oberkommando des Heeres	Army High Command
OKW	Oberkommando der Wehrmacht	Armed Forces High Command
Ord.O	Ordonnanzoffizier	Aide de Camps – ADC
- -	Polizeipräsident	Chief of Police
PzD	Panzerdivision	Armoured Division
RAD	Reichsarbeitsdienst	Labour Service
RB	Reichsbahn	National Railway
- -	Reich	The German Empire, common term for Germany at the time.
- -	Reichskanzler	Chancellor/Head of Government
- -	Reichstag	German Parliament/the building in which it met
- -	Reichswehr	100,000 man army allowed by the Treaty of Versailles; politically neutral, and highly trained.
- -	Reichswehrminister/um	Minister/Ministry of Defence
- -	Staffelkapitän	Squadron Leader
SA	Sturmabteilung	SA - "Brown Shirts"
- -	Sekt	German champagne
SD	Seicherheitsdienst	Secret Police of the SS
SPD	Sozialistische Partei Deutschland	Social (Democratic) Party, the Majority Socialists
SS	Schützstaffel	SS
- -	Truppenamt	Disguised General Staff during Weimar
USDP	Unabhänigige Sozialistische Partei Deutsch.	Independent Socialist Party
- -	Waffen-SS	SS units engaged in military operations rather than racial policies and police work.
WK	Wehrkreis	Military District
- -	Wehrmacht	Armed Forces, the expanded military forces of Germany after the Treaty of Versailles was abrogated by Hitler.