Nazi Terminology - R

R

• Rampkommando - ("ramp commando") A death camp, labor camp, or concentration camp worker—often drawn from among prisoner kapos—tasked with working at the Judenrampe in order to unload the rail cars and to process the newly arrived internees toward sorting, property-confiscation, and/or pre-execution staging areas.
• Rasse – race.
• Rassenhygiene – "Racial Hygiene"—the Nazi eugenics program—implemented to improve the Nordic Aryan master race itself to the point where it could eventually become a super race.
• Rassenschande – (literally "racial shame"); a Nazi term for sexual relations between an Aryan and a "non-Aryan" (including Jews, Slavs, and persons of African ancestry) which were banned by the Nuremberg laws.
• Rednerschule der NSDAP – National Socialist Speaker's School.
• Regierungspräsident – 'president' of a regional administration, in fact subordinate to the Nazi party's Gauleiter.
• Reich – Often translated as "Empire" or "State", perhaps the most accurate translation is "Realm".
• Reichsarbeitsdienst – State Labour Service, or RAD; 1931 formed as an auxiliary labour service, became 1935 obligatory (six month) for all men and women between 18 and 25 years.
• Reichsbauernführer – National Farmers' Leader; title given to Richard Walther Darré.
• Reichsbevollmächtigter – Imperial Plenipotentiary in occupied territory.
• Reichsführer-SS - title held by Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS Schutzstaffel. Equal on paper to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall, but in fact more akin to Reichsmarschall from 1942 onward as Himmler amassed ever greater power.
• Reichsheini - derogatory nickname for Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler.
• Reichsjägerhof - Hermann Göring's hunting lodge in East Prussia.
• Reichskanzlei - "Reich Chancellery" was the traditional name of the office of the German Chancellor (Reichskanzler). In 1938, Hitler assigned his favourite architect Albert Speer to build the New Reich Chancellery, requesting that the building be completed within a year and it was done. Very near the complex was the underground Vorbunker and Führerbunker; the latter where Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945. The New Reich Chancellery had the address No. 6 Voßstrasse, a branch-off of the Wilhelmstrasse, where the Old Reich Chancellery was located.
• Reichskriminalpolizeiamt - Reich Criminal Police Department or RKPA; alternative name of RSHA Amt V: Kriminalpolizei.
• Reichskommissar – Imperial Commissioner, a type of Governor in occupied territory.
• Reichskonferenz – National Caucus; national caucuses held by the Austrian Deutsche Arbeiterpartei before World War I.
• Reichsleitung – national leadership; members of the NSDAP Party Directorate. They all swore personal loyalty to the Führer.
• Reichsmark (RM) 'Mark of the Realm' – German monetary unit. 100 Reichspfennig = 1 Reichsmark.
• Reichsmarschall – "Marshal of the Realm", the highest rank in the German armed forces during World War II (held only by Hermann Göring).
• Reichsministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion - the Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production, founded in 1942 by merging the earlier Ministry for Weapons and Munitions with Organisation Todt; it was headed by Albert Speer.
• Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda – The "Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda", directed by Joseph Goebbels, established to spread Nazi propaganda.
• Reichsmordwoche, Nacht der langen Messer – "State Murder Week, Night of the Long Knives" of June–July 1934 during which Hitler assassinated hundreds of party-internal opponents, especially the SA, which was decapitated of its leadership.
• Reichsparteitage – "State Party Days", referred to in English as the Nuremberg Rallies, Nazi party rallies, held annually in Nüremberg near the date of the autumn equinox before the outbreak of war in 1939. Joseph Goebbels said of the Nuremberg Rallies, "The Fuehrer and I consider ourselves artists and the German people are our canvas."
• Reichsprotektor – Ruling German representative in the Czech Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia.
• Reichsschrifttumskammer – the Nazi Chamber of Literature. Hanns Johst was president.
• Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) – an SS subsidiary organization made up of 7 main departments including, the intelligence & security forces and secret police forces for Germany and occupied territories; also oversaw the Einsatzgruppen. Originally led by Reinhard Heydrich.
• Reichsstatthalter – "Stadtholder of the Realm", i.e. Reich Governor; after the seizure of power in 1933, local governments were dissolved and the Gauleiters were appointed to govern the states with full powers.
• Reichstag – "Realm Diet (or Parliament)"; see Reichstag (building), Reichstag (Nazi Germany)
• Reichstrunkenbold – "Reich drunkard", derogative name secretly given to Robert Ley whose alcoholism was widely known.
• Reichs-Uschla - the highest level of the four-tiered Uschla system, venued in Munich.
• Reichswasserleiche – "Reich water corpse", nicknake given to Swedish film actress Kristina Söderbaum due to a tendency of her characters in NS propaganda films such as Jud Süss to commit suicide by drowning.
• Reichswehr "national defense" - the armed forces of the Weimar Republic, strictly limited under the Versailles Treaty. Renamed the Wehrmacht in 1935. The Reichswehr comprised:
  • the Army, Reichsheer
  • the Navy, Reichsmarine
• Reichswerke Hermann Göring – an industrial conglomerate which absorbed the captured industrial assets of German-occupied countries. By the end of 1941 the Reichswerke became the largest company in Europe and probably in the whole world, with a capital of 2.4 billion Reichsmark and about half a million workers
• Reinrassig – a zoological term meaning "of pure breed." Applied to human races, persons who could not prove their Aryan ancestry could be considered nicht reinrassig.
• Restpolen ("remainder of Poland") - parts of occupied Poland that were organized as the General Government in September 1939.
• Resttschechei ("remainder of Czechia") - parts of occupied Czechoslovakia that were organized as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939.
• Revolution der Gesinnung – revolution of attitude; the concept that the German people would not only develop a purified race but also a new mind and spirit. It was about, in Hitler's words, "to create a new man". (5)
• Righteous Gentiles- In secular usage, the term is used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust in order to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. The secular award (discussed below) by the same name given by the State of Israel has often been translated into English as "Righteous Gentile."
• Ritterkreuz, in full Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, "Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross" - Germany's second-highest military decoration, worn at the throat. Whereas the other grades of the Iron Cross originated during the Napoleonic Wars, the Ritterkreuz was a Third Reich creation, a replacement for various royal orders like the Pour le Merite. Successive awards were marked by the progressive addition of Eichenlaub (oakleaves), Schwerten (swords), and Brillanten (diamonds). A further degree, with Gold Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds, was intended as a postwar honor for Germany's twelve greatest military heroes; one was awarded ahead of schedule to Stuka ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel.
• Ritterkreuzauftrag "Knight's Cross job" - soldiers' slang for a suicidal mission
• Ritterkreuzträger - holder of the Knight's Cross.
• Röhm-Putsch - name used by the Nazis for the Night of the Long Knives, which they characterized as a foiled coup attempt by Ernst Röhm and the SA.
• Rottenführer "team leader" - an SA and SS rank, equivalent to Lance-Corporal.