Nazi Terminology - T

T

• Tausendjähriges Reich - ("Thousand-Year Reich"), name popularly used by the Nazis to refer to the Nazi state. Its millennial connotations suggested that its society would last for a thousand years to come.
• Thule Gesellschaft – "Thule Society". The Nazis sought themes for their ideology in the occult and the Germanic and Nordic traditions.
• Totenkopf "death's head" – human-skull emblem worn by members of the SS, and also by Heer (German Army) and Luftwaffe panzer crews, thought to symbolise loyalty beyond death. Not specific to the Third Reich, and previously used by Prussian cavalry units and the World War I Imperial Tank Corps. Also the specific name for the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 54 medium bomber wing.
• Totenkopf-Standarten - Regiment-sized field formations of the Totenkopfverbände. They were merged into the Waffen-SS in August 1940.
• Totenkopfverbände "Death's Head Units" - The branch of the SS responsible for the concentration camps, as well as many of the Einsatzgruppen death squads. The 3rd SS Division Totenkopf was formed by men from the Totenkopfverbände.
• Totenkopfwachsturmbanne "Death's Head Guard Battalions" - concentration camp guard units.
• Triumph des Willens -- "Triumph of the Will"—A famous Nazi propaganda film, directed by Leni Reifenstahl.
• Truppenamt "Troop Office" - the cover name of the Reichswehr's clandestine General Staff, illegal under the Versailles Treaty.
• Truppführer "troop leader" - an SA and early SS rank, equivalent to Staff Sergeant.
• Turnvereine – German and Austrian calisthenic leagues. They were identically dressed men and women making identical movements in mass performance.