German military and slang terms

Abteilung (Abt.) — a battalion-sized unit of armour, artillery or cavalry; in other contexts

a detachment or section.
Alte Hasen — "Old hares"; slang for military veterans who survived front-line hardships.
Ami — German slang for an American soldier.
Aufgelöst — "dissolved"; disbanded, written off the order of battle.
Aufklärung — reconnaissance.
Aufklärungs-Abteilung — reconnaissance unit or battalion, also used to designate certain battalion-sized
units.
Banditen — bandits, partisans in occupied territories in World War II; bewaffnete Banden — armed
gangs; Soldaten in Zivilkleidung — soldiers in civilian dress; (seeFranktireure).
Bandengebiet — territory controlled by partisan squads in occupied territories during World War II.
Benzin — gasoline, petrol.
Blechkrawatte — "tin necktie," slang for the Knight's Cross.
Brummbär — "grumbling bear"; a children's word for "bear" in German. It was the nickname for a heavy
mobile artillery piece.
Drang nach Osten — "Push to the East", Germany's ambitions for territorial expansion into Eastern
Europe.
Eingeschlossen — encirclement, surrounded, cut off.
Eiserne Kuh — "iron cow"; evaporated milk
Eiserne Ration — "iron ration"; emergency rations
Endsieg — final victory.
Enigma — German message encryption equipment
Erkennungsmarke — identity tag; "dog tag".
Etappenschwein — (slang) "rear swine" (REMF).
Feigling — coward.
Fronterlebnis — front experience.
Frontgemeinschaft — front-line comradeship or community; group of front-line combat soldiers.
Frontkämpfer — front line soldier.
Frontschwein — "front pig" soldier serving long at the front.
Goldfasan (Golden pheasant) — derogatory slang term for high-ranking Nazi Party members. Derived
from the brown-and-red uniforms similar to the colors of male pheasantsand the perceived behaviour of
high-ranking party officials living in peace and luxury at home.
Halsschmerzen — "sore throat" or "itchy neck;" used of a reckless or glory-seeking commander, implying
an obsession with winning the Knight's Cross
Heckenschütze — "hedge marksman" hidden, ambushing sniper.
Heimatschuß — "homeland shot"; a wound not severe enough to be permanently disabling, but of
sufficient severity to require evacuation from the battlefront. The German soldier's equivalent of the
American G.I.'s "million-dollar wound" or the British soldier's "Blighty wound."
Heldenklau — "stealing" or "snatching of heroes"; slang term used to denote the practice of
commandeering rear-echelon personnel for front-line service.
Hilfswillige (Hiwis) — German Army volunteer forces usually made up of Soviet volunteers serving in non-
combat capacities.
Himmelfahrtskommando — literally, "trip to heaven mission", a suicide mission.
Iwan — German slang for a Soviet soldier (similar to "Jerry" or "Kraut", the British and American slang
terms for Germans).
Kesselschlacht — lit. "cauldron battle" encirclement often shortened to Kessel e.g. "Kessel von Stalingrad"
Kettenhund — "chained dog", slang for a Military Policeman (derived from the metal gorget worn on a
chain around the neck).
Kindersärge — "children's coffins", slang term applied to small, wooden antipersonnel box-mines.
Ostfront — eastern front (Russian Front)
Panzerfaust — literally "armour fist"; a light disposable infantry anti-tank weapon, a small recoilless
gun firing a fin-stabilized shaped charge grenade, and a forerunner of the Soviet RPG (rocket-propelled
grenade) although the Panzerfaust was not rocket-propelled.
Panzerschreck — literally "armour terror," officially Raketenpanzerbüchse "rocket armour rifle;" a heavy re-
usable infantry anti-tank weapon firing a rocket-propelled 88mmshaped charge grenade. Also
called Ofenrohr ("stovepipe") for its appearance.
Sigrunen — the name of the double "S" runes used by the SS
Soldbuch — pay book carried by every member of the German armed forces. Unit information, a record of
all equipment issued, and other details were entered into this book.
Stielhandgranate — stick hand grenade: the "potato masher" Model 24 grenade.
Stoßtrupp — small unit as shock or attack troops.
Totaler Krieg — "Total war" — In a total war, there is less differentiation between combatants and civilians
than in other conflicts, and sometimes no such differentiation at all, as nearly every human resource,
civilians and soldiers alike, can be considered to be part of the belligerent effort
Zeltbahn — a triangular or square shelter quarter made of closely woven, water-repellent cotton duck. It
could be used on its own as a poncho or put together with others to create shelters and tents.