Name This Category Contest - Big Prize for the Winner!

+11 votes
339 views

The Holocaust project was originally created to honor the memory of those who suffered during that apalling epoch in our history.  There are categories for Victims and Survivors, plus one for Fate Unknown.  A category for Heroes - people who risked their lives to help the Survivors - was recently added. There are also two maintenance categories - one for Profile Maintenance and one for Possible Survivors.

We have tossed around the idea of adding a category for the villains but have not yet done so only because we have not been able to determine an appropriate name for the category.  Calling it "Perpetrators" or "Nazis" has been mentioned - maybe even "War Criminals" is a possibility, but we're hesitant to use any of these because they sound like we're calling these people a bad name (then again, isn't a bad name exactly what the people in this group have earned?).

Anyhow, please help us find the right name for this category - there are already several profiles ready and waiting to be in it.  Put your idea as an answer below and vote for your choice.  When a clear winner is established, we'll award the BIG VALUABLE PRIZE of a public accolade in G2G to the fortuitous winner!!!

in Policy and Style by Gaile Connolly G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
Some people have been historically identified and even convicted as war criminals, so it would not be inappropriate to categorize such people by that name.
My choice would be "Brainwashed Co-conspirators."

 

Betty
Jillaine,  That sounds reasonable to me, but actually is not sufficiently broad to include all the people who would belong in the category - some Nazis died during the war, so were never brought to trial, others who survived were never captured during their lifetimes to be tried, and there are probably others who nobody ever tried to chase down.

Betty - I like the way you think!!!!  This subject came up right after we set up the "Holocaust Heroes" category, so I suggested "holocaust Villains" but was promptly told that won't fly - we need something non-accusatory for the category name, although I know not why.  After all, we have the Black Sheep project - doesn't that have a negative valance?
Holocaust Implementers?
Nuremberg Nominees
Betty Fox, you are a lady after my own heart. I love "Brainwashed Co-Conspirators" as a category. Because, there but for the grace of "Spinning History" go so many people, many of them Americans. I won't name names…

Courage is knowing when to say "No, No, No" even when others are marching to a different drumbeat. The US was late to enter the conflict, but the sound of that insistent "No, No, No" helped us make a morally correct decision.

You are so right, Betty Fox.  

"Brainwashed Co-Collaborators" works for me.

4 Answers

+12 votes
 
Best answer
I think you should not get too far away from what people actually were, by trying to apply modern sensibilities for a single generalized category name. It gets a bit too muddy around the edges.

I like the idea of two categories: Nazis and Nazi Collaborators.

Very few Germans were Nazis. This was a political party. Membership was invitational and official, and membership in the party granted certain perks like good jobs and positions.

And then there were the Gestapo, which was an elite paramilitary force who were really the ones in charge of all aspects of the death camps. They were highly regarded for their efficiency in Germany because to justify their existence, they did not detract from the war effort, but financed the process of the camps entirely via the funds of their victims. It was a self-sustaining enterprise of victmization.

Then there were the SS, the secret police. The agendas of these various groups kept each of them a bit off balance, by design, so that Hitler could consolidate his power by playing one off against the other. All of these by definition were probably Nazis first.

Officers in the war may or may not have been Nazis. Or the party membership requirement may have changed over time, as skilled officers in the field of battle were necessary, but separate from the political operations. I'm not sure how restrictive it was to become a military officer. Perhaps the non-party members who were officers were the ones more likely to be transferred to the Russian Front. So politics does matter.

So then if a person was not a party member, but had a hand in the atrocities, I would categorize him as Nazi Collaborator.

For instance, I was just working on a profile of an esteemed writer of Vichy France. His name ended up on the black list compiled by the Resistance after the war. I think I would categorize him as a Vichy Collaborator, if such a category came about.

His later son-in-law was a Polish Jew, who became a Resistance Member during the war, and escaped several times.
by Steven Mix G2G6 Mach 4 (47.9k points)
selected by Astrid Spaargaren
Steven, I think I like that the best out of all the suggestions. Nazi Collaborators seems like it would include the people we're looking to categorize.
Agree with Nazi Collaborators too.

Me three, except that I agree with Steve that we'll need BOTH categories - Nazis and Nazi Collaborators.

Steve - Contratulations on winning this contest!!!  Your valuable prize will be awarded very shortly!!!!!

YAY STEVE!!!!!!

 

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

 

Betty
Thanks! Okay, now I'm hungry.
+10 votes
"Collaborators". States that they took part in events, without implying a motive.
by Living Broughton-Mills G2G Crew (780 points)
+7 votes
Axis Power Collaborators is a good description them without making them sound too bad.
by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
But it's not the "Axis Powers" who brought it on and carried it out - Hitler was single handedly responsible for making it happen and the Nazis carried it out.  Also, the majority of the people who will be in this category will be the actual perpetrators - not mere collaborators (which I sort of equate with sympathizers).  I agree that at least some Nazi collaborators will belong in this category (although not all - as we learned doing this week's Collaborative Profile of the Week, Oscar Schindler was a Nazi collaborator - he spied for them - before he turned into one of the most celebrated heroes of the whole thing).  I expect that this new category will mostly consist of Nazis, though.
How about just National Socialist Party Members?

 

Betty
I think that, too, is not sufficiently inclusive.  There were lots of people who were not card carrying Nazis but *did* collaborate - by spying and turning Jews in who were either in hiding or living as non-Jews.  I know of at least one of these, who was Jewish but turned on his friends, neighbors, and even some family members in order to curry favor for himself.

I think a good description of what the name has to communicate is "perpetrators" but it somehow has to be a more politically correct term.
What about Fiends?

 

Betty
Anti-Semites

 

Betty
NOT National Socialist Party Members....too broad.
+7 votes
Antihero, offender, or heel.
by Peter Roberts G2G6 Pilot (703k points)
reshown by Anne B
Although heel is not quite right. I think Holocaust Offender, or Holocaust Anti-hero don't seem too bad.
Holocaust Perpetrator?

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