Aioli, Is It Garlic Mayonnaise?

"Aioli," and there are variations in the term by language or dialect ("allioli" in some areas of Spain, for instance),* is a general term for a sauce common in the western Mediterranean area of eastern Spain, southern France and northwestern Italy. There are "generally" two types of aioli; one of olive oil combined with garlic, which "seems" to be the traditional sauce, and the other, a combination of olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and egg (either whole eggs or just yolks), now often simply with prepared mayonnaise substituted for the raw egg. The traditional aioli method involved crushing cloves of garlic with a mortar and pestle, then gradually adding olive oil while stirring the mixture until it formed a sauce, with some adding a little lemon juice, others omitting it. Nowadays a blender or food processor is used to make the sauce. The "egg type" seems to have developed, or at least to have become popular, in southern France. The blended egg and ingredients made a garlic mayonnaise, and this type has become the best known, with even two of my Spanish cookbooks giving recipes for this type, with only scant mention of the traditional aioli, which is still used in parts of Spain. Of course, for the egg style aioli, the use of store bought mayonnaise is both convenient and safer than using raw egg. Aioli is commonly served with fish or other seafood, steamed vegetables, as well as with other foods.     

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (reduced fat style is fine)
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil 
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch pepper

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients until smooth. Chill the aioli.  
 
* One of my Spanish cookbooks spells it, "ali oli" (two words), and it also notes that in some parts of Spain it is called "ajiaceite" and "ajoaceite." 

WORD HISTORY:
Ball (#2)-This is the noun (related to "ballet") meaning, "dance (usually a formal dance)," and it is a totally different word from "ball," with the meaning, "rounded object." It goes back to Indo European "gwele/gwela," with the notion of, "bubble up, rise up, overflow, throw outward or upward," and it is distantly related to Old English "cwylla," which meant "a spring;" that is, "a source of water" ("water that rises out of the ground," and German still uses "Quelle," with this meaning, as well as, more commonly, the general meaning "source"). The Indo European form gave transliterated Greek "ballizein," with the meaning, "to jump about in dance" (literally, "to throw oneself about"). Latin borrowed the term from Greek as "ballare," also meaning, "to dance." This passed to Latin-based Old French as, "baller," with the same meaning, and which produced the noun, "bal," meaning, "a dance." English borrowed the word from French, circa 1650.

Caprese Salad (Insalata Caprese)

This famous Italian salad, called Insalata Caprese in Italian, is so simple it requires only one thing, the best ingredients you can get. The salad seemingly originated on the Italian island of Capri, which lies off the western coast of Italy, not far from the mainland city of Sorrento, and with Naples not far up the coast. The three main ingredients, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil leaves, represent the colors of the Italian flag.
 
Ingredients:

3 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 pound of mozzarella, also cut into 1/4 inch slices
10 to 12 large fresh basil leaves, torn in half
about 1 teaspoon coarse salt or to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Arrange the tomato slices on a platter, sprinkle each slice with a little salt, then put the mozzarella slices onto each tomato slice, followed by the basil pieces. Add a very little bit of both pepper and dried oregano, then give a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

I put some Sicilian olives on the plate too ...

WORD HISTORY:
Pestle-This word, related to "pesto," goes back to Indo European "peis," which meant, "to crush." This gave Latin "pinsere," meaning, "to beat, to pound, to stamp, to crush." This then gave Latin the noun "pistillum," meaning, "pestle" ("tool used to pound and crush"). This was passed to Old French, a Latin-based language, as "pestel," and English borrowed the word in the 1300s as "pestle."

Von Ryan's Express: Frank Sinatra & Trevor Howard Star

This exciting 1965 film, based on a popular novel of the time by David Westheimer, is set in Italy (largely filmed there, too), beginning in August 1943. The Allies are about to complete the conquest of the Italian island of Sicily and Italian morale is low. Colonel Joseph Ryan of the U.S. Army Air Corps, played by Frank Sinatra, is captured by the Italians when his plane is shot down. Italian soldiers hide their prisoner from a couple of German army officers who come looking to see what happened to the pilot of the downed plane. Ryan is sent to an Italian prisoner of war camp, whose main prisoners are British army troops, now under the command of Major Fincham, played by Trevor Howard, as the previous British commander has just died as a result of spending a long time in a special little prison coop, called "the sweat box." Now Ryan is the senior officer, but he at first defers to Fincham and Ryan feels it will not be long before they are freed, so the overall strategy should be to survive in the best conditions they can get and await the arrival of the Allies. Ryan finds, however, that Fincham has let his own men and a couple of Americans suffer in sick bay with malaria, while holding back on medicines and some other supplies for a possible escape attempt. Fincham's contentious style has made the Italian commandant, Major Battaglia, played by Adolfo Celi, respond in a harsher way than he might otherwise have done. Ryan shows Battaglia the potential British escape tunnel and Battaglia has the showers turned on, razors given out and delousing powder dispensed to the POWs, but he will not issue the prisoners fresh clothing, because he is selling the Red Cross provided clothing to make money for himself. Ryan orders all of the prisoners to strip and to throw the raggedy uniforms into a fire they've built. This forces Battaglia to issue the fresh clothing, but he has Ryan locked in the sweat box.

The Allies invade the Italian mainland and Italy surrenders, causing the Italian guards to desert the camp. Ryan is freed, and Battaglia is locked in the sweat box, at Ryan's order, rather than being hanged as Fincham wanted. The 400 prisoners, now helped by anti-Nazi Italian officer, Captain Oriani, played by Sergio Fantoni, try to get to the not too distant coast in hopes of being rescued by Allied naval forces. German military forces arrive at the camp and free Major Battaglia and they then begin to pursue the fleeing prisoners, who have a number of sick men. Oriani goes ahead of the main group to see if he can contact the Allies. The Germans surround the prisoners, killing some, but the rest are captured. All but the sick and wounded are loaded onto a train. Fincham believes Oriani betrayed them, but Oriani is found badly beaten on a railway car, as he has been captured too. Who walks out and gives the fascist salute? Battaglia! The Germans shoot the sick and wounded, bringing Fincham to say, "You let Battaglia live ... You'll get your Iron Cross for this, 'von' Ryan." (The Iron Cross was a German military decoration.) Ryan is depressed. The train moves out and stops in Rome on its way northward headed toward the German border and Innsbruck (Austria was part of Germany, at that time). The train comes under the command of Major von Klemment, played by Wolfgang Preiss. If you've seen any World War Two movies with German officers made in the 1960s, you've seen Wolfgang Preiss.

Meanwhile, Ryan sees an opportunity to pull up some loose floor boards in his boxcar. When the train slows down, some of the men drop down onto the tracks, then climb up and overpower the guards stationed on top of the cars. They put on the helmets and the uniforms of the guards. When the train stops for water, the men now overpower the remaining guards, toss their bodies onto the train, capture von Klemment and take over the train. Off they go! Now you get the title... "Von Ryan's Express." When the train in underway, the men find a young Italian woman in von Klemment's car, ah... undoubtedly there to darn the major's socks. Von Klemment tells the men the train is scheduled to stop in Florence to feed the German troops and the prisoners. The British chaplain, played by Edward Mulhare, had studied some in Germany years before, and he is fluent in German. They dress him in the uniform of one of the killed German officers, so he will be able to address any German personnel when the train stops. He is highly effective and he helps to keep the group from being found out; after which, he promptly faints.

Ryan and Fincham find out from von Klemment that the train will switch crews and guards when it gets to Verona. So now, Ryan cannot take the train into Verona, or it will all be over. Von Klemment says to divert a train, there will need to be an order issued by a high ranking German officer. * The chaplain now goes back to portraying the German officer and he tells the Germans at the regional command center that he needs to change the train route because it is carrying important things for Hermann Göring. The ruse works, but it isn't long before the Germans check with the regional commander about the Göring shipment, about which, of course, he knows nothing. The alert goes out and a chase begins, as an SS officer takes a train load of troops and calls in air support. In the meantime, von Klemment and the woman escape, and Ryan first kills von Klemment, and then the woman, as she heads for a police office. No more sock darning for her... Damn! (or maybe 'Darn' would be more appropriate?) Ryan, Fincham and company head for the Swiss border, but the German planes attack as the train speeds through a number of small tunnels. The men manage to down one of the aircraft, but the planes damage a walkway on a mountainside and bring down rocks onto the tracks, blocking the train's advance. Meanwhile, the German troop train is nearing. Ryan has most of the men clear the tracks and repair damages to the rails with rails pulled up from behind the train. Ryan, Fincham and a few others try to hold off the German troops who are now moving in on them by foot. Lots of fighting takes place, and several of the men are killed, as well as many Germans, but finally the tracks are cleared and the train is ready to roll. Ryan and the rear guard, including Fincham, break off the fighting and dash for the train, which is just beginning to move. Ryan is the last to run for the train and the German troops are not far behind. The German commander grabs a submachine gun and fires a burst, striking Ryan as he nears the train. He dies on the tracks as the train and the rest of the men roll toward Switzerland and freedom.

* Just a little history: Mussolini was ousted from power in late July 1943, but the new Italian government proclaimed its loyalty to the alliance with Germany, although not so completely secret negotiations began with the Allies to get Italy out of the war. With the Allies in the process of conquering Sicily, the Germans sent more forces to strengthen the Italian mainland. In early September the Allies invaded the mainland and the surrender of Italy was announced, with Hitler reacting by sending more forces and literally taking over Italy, except for the far southern region, which was quickly occupied by the Allies. A very slow and bloody campaign to conquer Italy then began, ending only in late April/early May 1945. The movie shows how the Germans have taken over Italy, including the rail system, which retained many Italian personnel, but under German supervision; thus, written orders had to be from German military officers.

Photo is of Fox War Classics, 20th Century Fox 2001 DVD.

WORD HISTORY: 
Express-This prefixed word has uses as a verb, an adjective and a noun; all coming from the same ultimate source. The prefix, "ex," goes back to Indo European, "eghs/ekhs," which had the notion of, "out from." This gave Latin "ex," with the meanings, "out from, from the inside, out of, from or since a period of time." This became a prefix in forming some words. The "press" part of the word goes back to Indo European "per/pre," which had the notion of  "to go forward, to go through;" thus also, "to apply force (to go forward or to go through)." This gave Latin "premere," meaning, "to squeeze, to compress." The two gave Latin "exprimere," which meant, "to make a visible impression or representation by squeezing;" thus also, "to make clear, to make known." Its participle form produced Latin "expressare," "to squeeze out, to make oneself clear." This passed to Old French, a Latin-based language, as "expresser," ("to make clear or known, to squeeze or compress). This was borrowed from French by English in the second half of the 1300s, but likely with influence directly from Latin, as the word meant, "to state clearly," but also, "to make a representation through a work of art." The Latin adjectival form ("expressus") had also given Old French the adjective "espres/expres," meaning, "clearly or distinctly stated." This was then also borrowed into English, but not until the second half of the 1400s. The noun in English came about from its initial meaning of, "direct messenger;" that is, "one who delivers directly from one location to a precise person or location." This meaning has carried over to modern times with the mail and package services. The further meaning of the modern noun, as in, "the Express," meaning, "express train, express bus," goes to the notion of "being direct, with travel service directly from one location to a precise destination." From all of this has also come the notion, "fast delivery or transport."       

Panzanella, A Salad of Tuscany

This salad is a specialty of Florence (Italian: Firenze), the capital city of Tuscany in Italy. Tuscany is a region of northwestern Italy famous for "Chianti" wine. The salad provides a good use for stale bread, especially for bread without all the preservatives, which gets stale after only a day or two. This is, of course, my own version of the salad.   

INGREDIENTS:

5 Roma tomatoes, cut into chunks/diced, or about 15 to 20 grape tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 cups bake shop Italian bread, dried for a day or two, or toasted, then torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
10 basil leaves, torn into smaller pieces
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil + 3 tablespoons more for the bread pieces
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Toss the bread pieces with the 3 tablespoons of oil. Put the bread pieces on a foil or parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 400 (F) for about 5 to 6 minutes, then let the bread pieces cool a bit. Mix the tomatoes, onions, basil leaves and bread pieces together. Mix the oil and red wine vinegar together, pour over the salad, then add salt and pepper. The oil and vinegar amounts are just a guideline, but I like more dressing on salad than perhaps some people, so use what you like. In Italy they trim the crusts from the bread, but I don't care, I do it my own way, although a funny thing happened then. A letter came from the Italian embassy asking me if I have seen the "Godfather" movies. I replied, "Only the first one." They answered with simply, "That's enough." What the hell's that supposed to mean?  hahaha

WORD HISTORY:
Tomato-This now common word goes back to Aztecan (Nahuatl) "tomatl." Spanish borrowed the word, as "tomate" from their colonial expansion in the New World in the 1500s. English borrowed the word from Spanish in the mid 1700s. There are two "general" pronunciations, even made somewhat famous in a popular song written by George Gershwin called, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," where the pronunciation differences were emphasized in one line. "Generally" speaking, Americans "tend" to pronounce the word as if, "toe-may-toe" (which actually often comes out like, "tum-ay-tah"). British pronunciation tends to be more like, "toe-mah-toe," with the "a" pronounced like the "a" of father. When I was younger, some Americans pronounced the word in the British style, but to be honest, that is quite rare in the U.S. anymore, at least in my experience, and I would say it would be considered a bit "high brow," if not downright "snobbish," nowadays.

What's In A Name? Nathan, Margaret, Marguerite, Margarita

The male name "Nathan" is derived from Hebrew "natan," which meant "gave;" thus perhaps, "gift of/from God." The name came into English from Christianity and the use of names from the Bible.

The female name "Margaret" is the more common spelling in English, but the name has various forms, some of which are forms from other languages, but which are used in English speaking countries, some examples: "Marguerite" in French, "Margherita" in Italian and "Margarita" in Spanish (see Word History below). It goes back to Greek "margarites," which meant "pearl," but which likely was borrowed by Greek from Persian "morwarid" (meaning "pearl").* Latin borrowed the word from Greek as "margarita," which spawned a number of variant names forms in the Latin-based languages, including Old French "Margarete." English borrowed the name circa 1200. The Italian form of the name is also used for a style of pizza with tomato sauce, basil and cheese, supposedly produced in the 1880s for Queen Margherita, the wife of the Italian king, Umberto. The red sauce, the green basil and the white cheese are the colors of the Italian flag. The Spanish form of the name, "Margarita," is also used for a tequila-based cocktail, likely invented in Mexico, but highly popular in the United States.**

I consulted the following, so for more information on any of the names see, "A World Of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003. And I consulted, "A Greek-English Lexicon," by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Roderick McKenzie, and Eric Arthur Barber, published by Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1940.

* Persian is a language from Indo Iranian, a branch of Indo European, thus it is related to English, but much further down the family tree, as English is from the Germanic branch of Indo European.

** For more on the history of the Margarita, see: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-history-of-the-margarita-57990212/?no-ist

WORD HISTORY:
Pearl-The more distant history of this word is unknown, but it goes back to Latin "perna," which meant "upper thigh, ham, leg," but it was used in some dialectal Latin-speaking Mediterranean areas for the name of mollusks, like clams and oysters, "seemingly" because many thought the shells resembled a "ham," or because they have a "foot" (leg), to move. Of course some such mollusks had pearls, and the word "pernula" was derived from "perna" as a diminutive ^ as the name for the product of these mollusks, "a pearl." ^^ Old French, a Latin-based language, got the term from Latin as "perle," and English borrowed it from French in the 1300s.

^ A diminutive is a word that makes something smaller or dearer; for example, duck, but duckling, pig, but piglet, both make the main animal smaller/younger, but diminutives can be for inanimate objects, like part, but particle; red, but reddish. As for making a word convey endearment, mother, but mom, and further, mommy. Often used for names, like John, but Johnny, Cynthia, but Cindy.

^^ The general Latin word for "pearl" long ago was "margarita."

Puttanesca Sauce And Its Real Meaning

Puttanesca sauce is something of a famous Italian pasta sauce, seemingly developed in the 1950s, but in my opinion, no one really knows, and like most recipes, there are variations, often regional. The word "Puttanesca" is derived from the Italian word "puttana," which means "prostitute, whore." The sauce is spicy, so you can draw your own conclusion, although I read somewhere that some of the "ladies" made such a pasta sauce for their "clients," so some theorize it received its name from that. But how did they all know the same basic recipe? Did they attend cooking school in their "off time?" Whatever the case, it is a great pasta sauce, but then again, any dish with chili peppers will pretty much earn that accolade from me. I believe spaghetti was the pasta of choice for this sauce originally, but you can use just about any pasta and I'm sure, if you ever go to Rome, you won't be banned from entering the Vatican or singing "Arrivederci Roma."
   
Puttanesca Sauce
quarter cup olive oil (if you want to add some 'irony' to the sauce, use 'extra virgin' olive oil)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
6 to 8 anchovy fillets, chopped (please don't be afraid to use anchovies, as they add a great flavor to the sauce, but are not strong, like you might associate with the time you bit into one on your pizza)
1 or 2 fresh small hot peppers, finely chopped, or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (you can make this as hot as you want, or less so, but use at least 1 fresh pepper or 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes to keep to the authentic side of the recipe)
about 14 to 16 pitted olives, halved or coarsely chopped (Kalamata olives are good, or cured black olives, or the larger green olives, or better yet, use some of each) 
3 tablespoons of capers, drained
1 28 oz. can chunky or diced plum tomatoes with some juice
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce
tablespoon chopped parsley
(variations: some use onion, some use chopped basil or dried, some use dried oregano, some add a little red wine)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, saute the garlic, peppers and anchovies until the garlic and peppers soften a bit and the anchovies begin to melt and mix in. Add and mix in the other ingredients, except the parsley, and simmer for about ten to fifteen minutes or so, letting the sauce thicken a bit. Stir in the parsley. Italians do not typically serve any kind of cheese as a topping for this sauce, so be careful, or no "Asti Spumante" for you!

This time I had fettuccine with Puttanesca sauce and
a small cucumber salad and Italian bread

WORD HISTORY:
Sauce-This word goes back to Indo European "sal," which meant "salt." This gave its Italic/Latin offspring "sal," a relative of English "salt," but the English form was derived from Germanic, which had also gotten its form from Indo European, its parent language. From Latin "sal" came the adjective "salsus," which meant "salted," and from that was derived a noun form "salsa," which meant "brine," but later the more general "flavoring agent." This was passed on to Old French, a Latin-based language, as "sauce," and this was then borrowed by English during the 1300s.

Stalingrad Movie Depicts Horror Of War, Part One, Historical Background

A little historical background: Stalingrad was a massive and famous World War Two battle, which came to symbolize, along with El Alamein in North Africa, the turning point in the war against Hitler and Mussolini. In the summer of 1942, a year after ordering his forces to invade the Soviet Union, Hitler concentrated his forces in the southern part of the Soviet Union in a strategic move to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus region, and to breach the Volga River, thus halting Soviet river traffic northwards. As the summer proceeded, Hitler divided his forces, sending one branch southward to take the oil fields, and keeping the other branch focused on the Volga at the city of Stalingrad.* The Soviets were determined to fight for the city, and German efforts to completely capture it were thwarted in August through October of 1942, bringing a street to street and building to building struggle for the remaining part of the devastated city still in Soviet hands.** In an effort to capture the last part of the city, the Germans sent in combat engineer battalions to try to gain control (the movie deals with a group of these combat engineers).*** As the slow, but brutal fighting took place, the Soviets mustered substantial forces outside the city for an offensive of their own.

With the bulk of his forces in the area tied down in and around Stalingrad, Hitler relied on his allies for forces to protect the flanks of his forces in the immediate Stalingrad area. These Italian, Hungarian and Rumanian troops were largely ill equipped to face the Soviet forces, especially to face Soviet tanks, but Hitler entrusted them with this important mission anyhow, believing the Soviets to be too weak to launch any major offensive operations, although German intelligence had reported Soviet troop concentrations on either side of German forces in the Stalingrad area, an area defended by Rumanian troops. In mid November the Soviets struck. While some Rumanian forces fought hard, the presence of large numbers of Soviet tanks eventually spread panic among their ranks and the front line collapsed. The Soviets raced to the rear of the German forces in the Stalingrad area (their 6th Army), trapping about a quarter of a million German troops, along with some Rumanian and Croatian forces.**** Hitler refused to allow a breakout attempt by the 6th Army, and a relief attack from the south was halted by Soviet resistance and winter weather. Attempts to supply the surrounded forces by air failed to adequately deliver enough supplies to keep the army going and repeated Soviet attacks gradually whittled down the size of the 6th Army. Although forbidden by Hitler to surrender, Colonel General (Generaloberst) Friedrich Paulus, then promoted to Field Marshal by Hitler as the end neared on January 30,***** decided to surrender his remaining 91,000 men to the Soviets in early February 1943. Only about 6000 of these men ever returned to Germany after the war. Prior to that time, the Soviets had attacked the Italians and the Hungarians, inflicting devastating casualties on these German allies, including many thousands killed. After the war, Italian-Soviet diplomatic relations were poor for decades, as the Italians said the Soviets had never given a full accounting for the Italian prisoners they had taken during the Stalingrad battle. "As I recall," the Soviets said the Italian prisoners, unfamiliar with the harsh winter conditions in Russia, had consequently suffered a high death rate in captivity, but the Italians felt the Soviets had mistreated their Italian prisoners, causing their deaths, or had executed many of them. The Rumanians and Hungarians, both under Soviet domination in the postwar era, could not offer any protest about their Soviet held prisoners of war until their communist governments were ousted and they were able to ask questions decades later.

This overall gigantic "Battle of Stalingrad" brought staggering casualties of at least three quarters of a million Axis troops killed, wounded or missing, and at least a million Soviet killed, wounded or missing. In addition, perhaps as many as fifty thousand Soviet civilians died.

* Stalingrad had been known as "Tsaritsyn" under the Tsars and into the early years of Soviet rule, when it was then renamed in honor of Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin. It was renamed "Volgograd," circa 1961, as Soviet leaders tried to distance themselves from Stalin's rule. Stalin had died in 1953.

** German air and artillery bombardment had left many structures in partial to total ruin, but these ruins then provided the remaining Soviet troops with excellent hiding places to ambush German units, slowly bleeding the German forces and leaving their units in a weakened state. The fighting was often confusing for the opposing forces, as later reports indicated examples where German forces would control certain floors of a building, while Soviet forces controlled other floors of the same building.

*** The movie has a scene using an actual preserved recording of Hitler giving a speech to long time Nazi Party members in Munich in November 1942. The movie has the exhausted men, who had just fought to capture a Soviet factory, sitting around and listening to the speech, which had been broadcast on radio all over Germany, and to the troops on the Eastern Front. In the speech, Hitler says he wants to take the remaining part of Soviet held Stalingrad "mit ganz kleinen Stoßtrupps" ( "with very small assault detachments"), in reference to the combat engineers. Some of the men look at each other in astonishment, as they have already suffered high casualties just taking this one factory.

**** Croatia had been established as an independent state, although with foreign policy tied to Italy and Germany, after the defeat of Yugoslavia in 1941. It was a fascist ruled nation which provided some military forces to Germany, although these forces were technically part of the "German" armed forces (Wehrmacht). Another small unit was part of the Italian military. Their other forces remained as part of their own Croatian military to combat insurrection forces in the Croatia-Serbia region, often, but not always, organized by communist leaders, most prominent of whom was Josef Tito, who later became the head of postwar Yugoslavia.

***** Essentially, German general ranks had been copied from the French long ago. Typically the Germanic languages (which includes English) place adjectives before the noun they describe, as in, "the blue car." The Latin based languages, which includes French, typically place adjectives after the noun. In the British and American armies of World War Two, there was the rank of Major General, for instance, but the Germans use the French form, "General Major" (Generalmajor, in German). Neither the British nor American armies had the specific German rank of "Colonel General" (Generaloberst) in World War Two, but it was equivalent to a four-star general in the U.S. Army. Hitler had promoted Paulus to field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) just a couple of days before the end, with the thought that Paulus would commit suicide, rather than surrender.   

Word History:
Freeze-This word goes back to Indo European "preus," which meant "to freeze, to frost over." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "freusan," as the Indo European "p" often became "f" in Old Germanic. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "freosan," which then became "fresen," before the modern version. The figurative sense, "to remain motionless, to stop in one tracks and remain motionless," may well have developed in Old Germanic and was passed on to a number of its offspring, including English. The noun form meaning, "a period of cold temperatures in which crops freeze," came from the verb. The other Germanic languages have: German "frieren," ^ Low German "fresen," ^^ Dutch "vriezen" West Frisian "frieze," Danish and Norwegian "fryse," Swedish "frysa" and Icelandic "frysta" and "frjósa."

^ Note the change of "s" or "z" to "r," a common change (sound shift) which developed in High German centuries ago, although the "s" sound continued in this case, as Old High German had "friosan;" and it wasn't until later that that sound shift took place. Another example is, English has "I was," but German has "Ich war" (not pronounced like English "war," but rather it rhymes with "far").

^^ Low German, under influence from German (standard German is heavily based on High German), also has "freren," a borrowing with the "r" from standard German. Low German was once the general dialect of northern Germany, but the teaching of standard German in schools has brought a serious decline to Low German, although it still is used, but less than in times past. Low German is very closely related to English, as northern Germany is the ancestral homeland of Anglo-Saxon.

History of Ghettos, Part One

The idea of separating people from one another for some reason is undoubtedly so old as to be unrecorded in history. The more specific idea of separating humans due to religious, ethnic, or racial background is somewhat better documented as it related to European Jews going back to a time during the Middle Ages in the 1ate 1100s, when Christian officials (Third Lateran Council) decreed that Jews and Muslims were not permitted to have Christian servants, with further implications that Christians should not live among Jews or Muslims. Christian testimony in any legal matter against Jews was the be accepted over the testimony of Jews. The Council also decreed excommunication for Christians who practiced "usury;" that is, "charging interest on loans."* Since Jews were (and had been) excluded from many professions, but not finance, many Jews went into the field, opening new hostility toward them.** So this whole matter led to Jews being more and more excluded from general society, although that had already been going on to some degree even before this time.

By 1516, Venice forced Jews to live in one part of the city (an island) which had a wall built around it and this was the first time the term "ghetto" was used (see Word History). Not long thereafter, Rome and other European cities followed suit, and Jews frequently had to create their own society within the confines of their part of a city.*** Besides the moral issue involved here, Jewish ghettos were almost always restricted in size, thus making for overcrowding and generally poor living conditions. Some cites did not completely restrict Jews to walled in areas, and Jewish living areas then were often called the "Jewish quarter."

The American Revolution, and the subsequent French Revolution, brought changes to the way "some" people thought about separating people, especially Jews, from the rest of society. Gradually some of the barriers to Europe's Jews came down, but bigotry and hatred towards them remained among significant parts of the population, often depending upon the country in question. In Germany, Jews gradually came to be more accepted (I didn't say totally), although less so in the staunchly Catholic areas, particularly in Bavaria and Austria.**** Germany and Austria are obviously important, because of what was to come under Hitler, but my point here is to indicate that many Jews, particularly in central and northern Germany, came to see themselves and be viewed by many Germans, as "Germans." This later became VERY dangerous, as a number of German Jews believed Hitler to be something of a temporary phenomenon, and their ties to Germany also understandably made them highly reluctant to leave their homeland. Needless to say, it cost many German Jews their lives.

More in Part Two.

* Islam forbids charging interest, but the Christian world (although not every Christian) has redefined "usury" to mean "excessive" interest on loans, the definition of which is beyond the scope of this article. 

** Let's face it, while not always true, the basic old saying has much truth, "Lend a person a dollar and you've made a friend, but lend them more than that, and you've made an enemy." We tend to be resentful against those to whom we owe something, usually money, especially if we are having trouble paying it back.

*** You can't have it both ways, folks. If you segregate people, guess what? They develop a culture and society all of their own, likely to be of varying differences from society in general. If you then remove restrictions and permit free movement and living for these previously restricted people, guess what? They ain't (if my former English teachers will forgive me) going to suddenly acclimate themselves to the general population. Such things take time, and the influences typically go in both directions. 

**** Vienna's Jewish population gradually grew, containing much of Austria's Jewish population. For some info on German Jews in the World War One era, see my article:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/02/german-question-part-eighty.html   

WORD HISTORY:
Ghetto-The origin of this word is unclear, but it "likely" goes back to "Venetian," technically a Latin derived (Romance) language spoken in Venice and vicinity, that is usually referred to as an Italian dialect. Venetian has "ghet(o)," a word meaning "slag" (a product of making ore into metal) and also used for a foundry producing slag. This came from Italian "gettare," a verb with the primary meaning "to throw," and the extended meaning "to cast/mould" ('mold,' American spelling).^ This traces back to Latin "jactare/iactare," with the same meanings. Whether the Latin word came from Indo European, is unclear. The term "ghetto" was first used in Venice in the modern context in early 1500s, and the original Jewish ghetto there was in the same part of town as a foundry, and the speculation is, the district may have been tagged as a "ghetto," in local usage because of the foundry, and that the term was simply maintained when Jews lived there. The term and meaning then spread to Italian and English borrowed it from Italian in either the late 1500s or early 1600s, and it later came to be applied to an area of a city or town where, compared to the overall population, the dwellers were predominantly minority.

^ English has the similar development of "cast," which means "to throw" (now more often used, but not exclusively, in terms of fishing lines or nets), but with a secondary meaning "pour metal into a mold," as in "cast iron."

Poison Gas Incident, World War Two

As a follow-up to the "Chemical Warfare 1919-1945" article,* I want to add this important information about an incident in late 1943.

The Allies invaded Italy in September 1943. By a pre-arranged agreement with the Allies, the Italian government surrendered.** After a bitter struggle, the Allies were able to advance inland as the Germans withdrew. Bari is a port city in southeastern Italy that was captured and then used by the Allies to bring in supplies. In early December 1943 the German Luftwaffe (airforce) launched a surprise raid on the port, destroying several ships, including one American ship carrying poison mustard gas. The information about the ship's poison cargo was a strict military secret, and within days of the raid hundreds of Italian civilians and Allied servicemen were treated for various conditions by doctors unaware their patients were suffering the effects of poison gas. How many people died as result of the poison gas is in dispute, as the German air raid was so successful, there were many other casualties from the bombing attack itself, and, as mentioned above, doctors were unaware they were treating people exposed to poison gas, which undoubtedly caused more deaths due to improper treatment, but the number of deaths range from a low of about 70 to a high in the many hundreds.

Allied leaders, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, had all information about the poison gas part of the incident suppressed, as it was feared Germany would assume the Allies had the poison gas brought in to launch a gas attack against German forces, or against Germany itself, thus prompting a German retaliatory attack. Near the end of the war the American military did admit to the presence of poison gas during the incident, but they also made clear the gas had been brought into only to give the Allies access to it in case of the need to retaliate against a German gas attack. To my knowledge, Winston Churchill never made such an admission, and it was only in the mid 1980s that the British government admitted to the poison gas being present. Documents about the matter were kept classified and it wasn't until nearly a couple of decades later that the records were declassified and then information was reported by historians.

* The link to that article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/03/chemical-warfare-1919-1945.html

** This Italian government had replaced the former Fascist government of dictator Benito Mussolini in late July 1943, and while it insisted Italy would continue as an ally of Germany, the government immediately entered into secret negotiations with the Allies for an armistice.

WORD HISTORY:
Lorn/Forlorn-"Lorn" goes back to Indo European "leu/lu," with the notion of "undo, loosen, separate." This gave Old Germanic the verb "leusanan," with the meaning "to lose." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "leosan," with the same meaning. Its participle form was "loren" (no Sophia or Ralph jokes, please!), and the notion of "lost" then began to convey the idea of "abandoned, left alone; thus lonely." The verb "leosan" (to lose) began to be overtaken in usage by its close relative, the ancestor of "lose," which I will cover soon. "Loren," which then became just "lorn," continued on, with the idea of "abandonment, being lonely." "Lorn" is now archaic, if not obsolete. The closely related compound "forlorn" and its Germanic relatives trace back to Old Germanic "fraleusanan," which also meant "to lose." This gave Old English "forleosan," which meant "to lose, to ruin, to abandon," and its participle was "forloren," which later became "forlorn." By the 1500s, the idea of "abandonment, loss" transferred the meaning to the result of these things; thus developed the meaning, "extreme sadness, miserable," a meaning exclusive to English, as its Germanic relatives all still retain the meaning(s) "loss, lost." West Frisian has "ferlies" ("loss"), German has "Verloren" (lost), some Low German dialect has "Feluss" (no "r," and note the second part's closeness to English "loss," which is its meaning), Dutch has "verloren" (lost) and "verlies" (loss), Swedish has "förlust" (loss) and "förlorad" (lost), Danish has "forlis" (loss; often used in compounds to specify "loss of a particular thing") and "forlise" (lost, wrecked), Icelandic has "villast" (lost), and Norwegian has "forlis" (loss).

Chemical Warfare 1919-1945

In a recent article about Marshal Pietro Badoglio of Italy, I noted that his overall record had a "blemish" for his use of poison gas in Abyssinia.* This brought a comment from a reader that the use of poison gas is more than a "blemish." First, I think that is a valid criticism, and my choice of words should have been better. Second, in answer to the reader's comment, I said I would do an article about poison gas. So, here it is. This is just some basic information, and it in no way means that I'm trying to excuse Badoglio or any others mentioned below, but it does give context to those times prior to and during World War Two.

Poison gas of various types was used on both sides in World War One. The use was so widespread and accepted, it would be virtually pointless to go into use during the war. After the war, however, there were attempts to outlaw the use of poison gas, but doing so was not an easy task, and lest we forget, the U.S. and certain allies invaded Iraq to find and destroy "weapons of mass destruction," including "poison gas." So the issue is still around all of these decades after the end of World War One.

One Winston Churchill favored the use of poison gas in Iraq in 1920 "against uncivilised tribes," as he called some people in that region.** Historians are divided over whether the British did in fact use poison gas in Iraq in 1920, and I won't debate the issue in this article. During World War Two (July 1944), Churchill, rebuking "morality," proposed using poison gas on German cities, noting those cities could be "drenched," and that, "if we do it (use poison gas), let us do it one hundred percent." The matter was dropped due to fear of retaliation by Germany.

The Spaniards used mustard gas in Spanish Morocco in the mid 1920s against Berber rebels.*** The Japanese used mustard gas and other agents in China in late 1930s. The Nazis and the Allies both feared each other would use chemical warfare, but fear of massive retaliation by the other side kept poison gas from being used, although it was available in quantity to both sides. Both sides had specially trained units for delivery of poison gas (aerial and artillery) as well as units trained in decontamination of sites if poison gas had been used. The United States had been reluctant for decades to sign treaties banning chemical weapons, citing mistrust of other nations (mainly the Soviet Union) and the need to have a deterrent; that is, the ability to retaliate against any nation that used chemical weapons against the U.S. It wasn't until 1997 that a United Nations treaty on chemical weapons was finally ratified by the U.S. Some weapons were destroyed by the U.S. and other nations, but further such actions have been postponed, as the issue of how to safely destroy chemical weapons was debated, and also, the idea of a deterrent has remained an issue.

* The link to the article is: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/03/marshal-badoglio-of-italy.html

** The general area of modern Iraq was called Mesopotamia at that time, and it was under British control. An uprising against British rule by some elements of the population took place in 1920.

*** Morocco was then divided between Spain and France as "Spanish Morocco" and "French Morocco." The Berbers are an indigenous people of many parts of North Africa, not just Morocco. They have often, but not always, been nomadic.

WORD HISTORY:
Loss-This word goes back to Indo European "leu" or "lu," which had the notion of "undo, loosen, separate." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "lausam," with the same basic meanings. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "los," a noun which meant "loss," in the sense "total loss, destruction." Whether this then became modern "loss," which usually has a much less drastic meaning, is unclear. Some believe "los" died out with its place taken in the 1300s by its close relative "lost," the participle form of "lose,"^ and that this then became "loss." It is certainly possible that "los" remained, but that it was not in common use among more educated people, and that, influenced by the toned down meaning of "lost," it became modern "loss," which has relatives in the other Germanic languages, but I will cover them with some of the other related words to come.

^ "Loss" is closely related to a number of other words: "lose," "loose," "lorn" (the second part of 'forlorn'), and the "less" part of words like "homeless," "spotless," etc. These close relatives of "loss" will be covered in the next few articles, and it can all get quite confusing.

Marshal Badoglio of Italy

"Pietro Badoglio"

Note about Italy and World War Two: Italy played a significant part in World War Two in Europe and North Africa. Benito Mussolini was the dictator of Italy, leader of Italian Fascism, and Adolf Hitler's closest ally. The Italian military generally performed poorly during the war, although there were times when Italians units fought as well as those from other nations. Italy entered the war in June of 1940 against Britain and France, but by July of 1943, Mussolini was deposed by his own Fascist Party and then arrested on the orders of King Victor Emmanuel III (Italian: Vittorio Emanuele). The King named Pietro Bodoglio as Prime Minister of Italy and the new government signed an armistice in September 1943. The Italian government then formed some military units to fight on the side of the Allies. Meanwhile, Mussolini was rescued in a daring mission by German commandos, who were glider-landed atop a mountain resort where the former dictator was being held. Mussolini then set up a "new" government in northern Italy, complete with military units to fight along side the Germans, who had occupied Italy. A growing Italian resistance (partisan) movement led efforts behind German lines to defeat the Germans and their Italian fascist allies.* This brought Italy into a virtual state of civil war. The stubborn German defense of Italy was finally broken by the Allies and the German forces in Italy surrendered.

While there were some prominent Italian military commanders during World War Two, I've chosen Pietro Badoglio to represent Italy, mainly because he headed the post-Mussolini government. Just for the record, "some" important Italian military commanders during World War Two: Ugo Cavallero, Alfredo Guzzoni, Giovanni Messe, Italo Gariboldi. For those interested in any of these generals or others not listed, check your local library. Please support your local library!

Pietro Badoglio was born in northwestern Italy. He attended military school and served in the army in Italian colonial wars in East Africa and in Libya.** Badoglio rose to general during World War One, although his role in a major Italian defeat in one battle during the war has been criticized by historians. He then became Army Chief of Staff. he was not especially fond of Mussolini at first, but Mussolini later promoted him to "Marshal" (equivalent to field marshal in other armies) and he was put in charge of the colony of Libya. When the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in East Africa lagged in the early going in 1936, Mussolini put Badoglio in overall charge of operations there. Almost immediately he had poison gas used on Abyssinian troops. Following the Italian victory, Badoglio was made Governor General of the newly conquered colony, but he quickly returned to his post as Army Chief of Staff.

While skeptical of Italian military fortunes in a major war, he remained on when Mussolini took the country into World War Two. When the poorly planned Italian invasion of Greece went awry, Badoglio resigned his post, although the exact reason for his resignation is unclear. It wasn't until the Allies invaded the large Italian island of Sicily that Badoglio reemerged to play a role in the war. Mussolini was deposed and arrested, and the King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Badoglio as Prime Minister of Italy. The new Badoglio government almost immediately began secret negotiations with the Allies for an armistice. The Italian government had to be careful, as there were many German troops in Italy, and the German weren't stupid. They knew of the possibility of an Italian surrender and they made plans to send in more troops to help secure the country. The armistice was announced as Allied troops were making a second landing in Italy on September 8 (an Allied force had initially landed on September 3), but the Germans successfully disarmed most Italian units over the course of the first few days, although there was some heavy fighting in places in Italy and in Yugoslavia. The government escaped the Germans and then declared war on Germany. Badoglio remained as Prime Minister until June of 1944, when he resigned. He died in 1956 at the age of 85. Marshal Badoglio was an important figure in the Italian surrender, but his use of poison gas against the Abyssinians stands as a blemish on his overall record.

* It was Italian partisans who captured and executed Mussolini and his entourage in late April 1945.

**Italy had Eritrea in East Africa as colony from the late 1800s, and Libya (in North Africa) was occupied and made into a colony by Italy in 1911. In both colonies, not all people accepted the Italians as rulers, and there were rebellious outbreaks that were suppressed by the Italian military.

WORD HISTORY:
Wife-This is another common word of uncertain ancient origin, and I'm not sold on some of the theories, but Old Germanic had "wiban," which meant "woman, female person." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "wif," with the same meaning, but also later in Old English with the notion of "female spouse, wife" being a secondary meaning, which later became the primary meaning, as it is today. "Midwife" retains the original meaning of "woman," in general. Later too, the spelling varied from "wif" to "wyf," before the modern version. Common in the other Germanic languages (except Norwegian), although not necessarily used by all to the same degree: German has "Weib," which is used more in old style language for "woman, wife," as it was replaced by "Frau" as the common modern term. For those learning German, it is a word best avoided, as it has a derogatory tone to it for a woman now, with implication of "babe" or "doll," if you get my drift. Low German has "Wief" (female, woman); Dutch has "wijf" (female, woman); West Frisian has "wiif" (female, woman); Swedish and Danish have "viv" (woman); Icelandic has "víf" (woman). I did not find a modern form in Norwegian, where the term has undoubtedly died out, as one of the words for "woman" in Norwegian is related to English "queen," a word that also once simply meant "woman, lady" in English, before taking on the notion of a woman married to a tribal chieftain or king, and then later a "female ruler in her own right."

German Military Leaders/Nazi Era/Kesselring

"Field Marshal Albert Kesselring"

Kesselring was born in Lower Franconia (Unterfranken), now a part of Bavaria. German uses the name "Albert," but also the variant, "Albrecht," and I "believe" Kesselring used that second form. He served in World War One and remained in the treaty-restricted army after the war. Not long after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Kesselring became involved in German aviation, then restricted by the Versailles Treaty to non military use, but in reality, this was evolving into the "Luftwaffe," or airforce, although it didn't come out from under cover until a couple of years later. He learned to fly during this period, when a middle-aged man, and he moved up through the ranks of the expanding Luftwaffe, serving in several different command positions.

The invasion of Poland in September 1939 found Kesselring as commander of a "Luftflotte"* (air fleet) supporting the German attack. He was then transferred to a similar command for the offensive in western Europe the following spring, the successful conclusion of which brought him promotion to field marshal. His air units were then committed to what became known as the "Battle of Britain," after which he and his units were transferred to Poland for the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, where they scored many victories over the Red Air Force during the drive toward Moscow.

The joint German-Italian military operations in North Africa in 1941 against the British and Commonwealth forces there had opened a whole new theater of operations in the Mediterranean area, and Kesselring was sent to assume the command of all German ground, air and naval forces in this southern theater in late 1941, and as such, he was Rommel's superior. Kesselring remained in command in southern Europe and the Mediterranean through the defeats in North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, and the invasion of Italy, although his strategic decisions and the tenacious defense put up by his forces earned him high marks, even among his Allied opponents.** In the fall of 1944, Kesselring was severely injured in an auto accident, which kept him out of service until early 1945. Hitler had such confidence in Kesselring, he pulled him out of Italy in the spring of 1945 and made him commander of the German forces in western Germany. When the Western Allies met the Soviets in eastern Germany, cutting the German forces in two, Kesselring was made commander of the forces in the southern part.

Kesselring surrendered to the Americans and later was put on trial for war crimes a couple of years later. During the German withdrawal up the boot of Italy, some Italians, encouraged by the Allies, joined a resistance movement and attacked German facilities and personnel. The Germans took reprisals, including the execution of prisoners and Jews.*** Jews were also used as forced labor to build German fortifications.**** Kesselring was found guilty and sentenced to death, but some Allied military leaders came to his defense, arguing that Kesselring had fought a tough, but fair, war. That seems to be the case, but remember, the charges against him were not about "battle crimes," but crimes committed behind the front lines, largely against Italian civilians. Eventually the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, but his supporters, many of them military people in Britain, continued to press for his early release, which happened in 1952 when he had throat cancer. He released a couple of books he had been working on during his imprisonment, and he argued that the average German soldier should not have been lumped in with true war criminals. He also said and wrote that his orders against Italian civilians were not war crimes, a position which was highly controversial, especially in Italy. Kesselring died in 1960 in the German state of Hessen, in western Germany.

* A German "Luftflotte" typically contained 500 to 1500 aircraft of all types, depending upon their mission.

** Kesselring's command was always secondary to the operations against the Soviet Union, which consumed huge amounts of men and resources, and then was later moved further down the list, as the Germans prepared for an Allied invasion of France.

*** While Italy is not a country many associate with Jews, due to its Catholic tradition, Rome especially had a Jewish population dating back many centuries.

**** To Kesselring's credit, he did not permit the destruction of many ancient Italian sites and artifacts, in fact, he went out of his way to have such things protected. Later, he generally did not accept Hitler's orders to destroy German infrastructure.

WORD HISTORY:
Arm (1)-This is the noun for the body part, although "arm," meaning "weapon," is from the same ancient source, but with a different history thereafter (more in the next installment). It goes back to Indo European "ar," which had the notion of "fit or join together." This then produced a variant, "arem/aram," with the meaning "arm," which has remained for all of these centuries, although this is not surprising for such a prominent body part. This gave its Old Germanic offspring "armaz, which in turn gave its offspring, Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "earm," and then the modern spelling. Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German and Low German "Arm," Dutch "arm," West Frisian "earm," Icelandic "armur," Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish "arm."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Fifty-Seven

"Hitler & The German Question" Part Three

In the Eupen-Malmedy region, which had been annexed to Belgium from Germany after World War One, and then annexed back to Germany during World War Two, the area was returned to Belgium after Hitler's defeat, but over time, the German population was given equal political rights, including for the maintenance of their language.

The South Tirol (or Tyrol) was a hot button issue for decades. This region of the Alps was heavily German,* but with an Italian minority, which actually had majority status in certain southern areas of the region. It was given to Italy after World War One as sort of a payoff for Italy's having chosen the Allied side. It had been a part of the Austrian part of "Austria-Hungary," and the rest of Tirol, including famous Innsbruck, remained part of Austria after World War One. The Italians tried to "Italianize" the Germans in the South Tirol, and this brought about extreme dissatisfaction among the German population. Hitler and Mussolini came to an agreement about the time of Germany's invasion of Poland to let Germans of the South Tirol choose to remain in the region, but to become "Italians," with all of the resultant restrictions on German language and German culture that carried with it, or to emigrate to Germany (which then included Austria). More than 150,000 chose to "resettle" outside of Italy, but the war interfered with much of this resettlement, and only about half that number actually left Italy. The South Tirol remained a part of Italy after World War Two ended,** but with much German unrest, including serious incidents (people killed), for several decades. Finally the Italian government agreed to grant a degree of "autonomy" to the German region, and several years later another more expanded agreement gave even greater autonomy to the German population. The Germans of the South Tirol have maintained their German language (German is now recognized by the Italian government as an "official" language in the region) and German culture, but they have remained a part of Italy as an "autonomous region," and some of the Italian majority areas were detached from this political entity to avoid further conflict.

After the war, Luxembourg went back to being Luxembourg, a separate country. In Alsace-Lorraine,*** Hitler never formally announced the annexation of the regions to Germany after defeating France in 1940, but the areas were just taken over again, and standard German was reintroduced as the language taught in schools there. The regions reverted to France at the end of the war, and French was again made the official language, and standard German and the German dialects of these two regions have been in serious decline ever since.

As to Germany herself, Austria became independent, although it was divided into occupation zones, with the country gaining full independence in the mid 1950s. Germany was divided into four occupation zones, with the Soviet zone in eastern Germany eventually becoming a communist state, commonly known as "East Germany," but officially the "German Democratic Republic." The western zones were occupied by the British, Americans, and French, and became commonly known as "West Germany," but officially as the "Federal Republic of Germany." Germany became the center of possible major Cold War confrontation between the Soviet Union and its satellite nations in eastern Europe on one side and western Europe and the United States on the other. As communism lost its grip over eastern Europe in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Germany was reunited as a single nation, and the occupation officially ended. Whether occupation forces would have remained in Germany for such a long time if there hadn't been a "Cold War" is difficult to say, but I doubt it, as the costs would have probably been too great for the occupying nations, although I think it benefited the stability of the western areas, as unlike after World War One, when the Weimar Republic floundered around trying to establish democracy, the presence of foreign powers for so long after World War Two helped democracy take firm root during that time, and presently, Germany is a model democracy, as is Austria.

Germans born after the war are not responsible for what their parents or grandparents did during the Nazi regime, and increasingly, the more recent generations have little concept of those times, as the Nazi-era generation is fading from the scene. Quite a few of the Nazi-era Germans I've known over the years are quite ashamed of those times, but then again, I've known a few who were unrepentant. For a few decades after the war ended, there was a fear by many non-Germans that if Germany did reunite, Germans would seek to regain territories lost to other nations after World War Two, especially some areas lost to Poland, which had in fact been a sore spot for many Germans since the end of the war. Presently that has not happened, nor does it appear likely to happen any time soon, if ever. Germans have struggled to deal with their history during Hitler's rule, especially the murderous nature of his regime and the complicity of so many, but time is doing much to change attitudes. People like Sophie Scholl and Claus von Stauffenberg**** have become martyrs and heroes to younger generations of Germans for their willingness to oppose Hitler, and this seems to say, "the nightmare is over."

* Of course, it all depends upon where you draw the boundaries.

** While Mussolini was put back into power by the Germans in northern Italy, that government was obviously never recognized by the Allies; thus, Italy's switch to the Allied side in September 1943 helped Italy keep the South Tirol.

*** As noted in previous articles in this series, the struggle over these regions has gone on for centuries, but technically, this struggle has not been over both provinces in their entirety, but rather most of Alsace and about a quarter to a third of Lorraine, the Germans conceding the other areas as being French.

**** See Part 151 about the German Resistance.

WORD HISTORY:
Will-The noun form, meaning "determination (as in 'will power'), intended purpose or desire," goes back to Indo European "wel," with the meaning "wish, desire." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wiljon," with the same basic meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "willa," with the meaning "self will or determination, desire." This then later became "wille" before the modern spelling. In the 1300s, the idea of "wish, determination" began to be applied to "a legal document expressing a deceased person's 'desires' for the division of his/her belongings," a meaning that also continues today. German has "Wille," Low German Saxon has "Will," Dutch has "wil," West Frisian "wolle," Swedish has "vilja," Norwegian and Danish have "vilje," all with the meaning of "desire, intention, will power," but not the legalistic "will," which seems to be confined to English.

The verb "will" seems to have been derived from the noun form of Old Germanic as "wiljan(an)," with the same basic meaning "desire, wish, intention to do." This gave Old English "willan" (also apparently "wyllan" in some dialects), with the same basic meaning. The "intention to do" meaning came to be used in future usage; thus, "I will go to the store." Later the word was spelled "willen" and "wollen," before the modern spelling. Extensively used in the other Germanic languages: German has "wollen" (just to show the similarity to English, conjugated as ich will=I will; du willst=you will; er,sie,es will=he, she, it will), Low German and Dutch have "willen," West Frisian "wolle," Danish and some Norwegian have "ville," Icelandic, some Norwegian and Swedish have "vilja."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Fifty-Four

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Five/C
"The End of Hitler's Reich" Part Three

In 1945 in western Germany, the Allies gradually pushed back the German defenders, crossing the Rhine River at Remagen in March. By April, a large German force was encircled in the Ruhr industrial region. With Berlin temptingly lying east of their advancing forces, the Allies chose not to risk a drive on the German capital, leaving the job to the Red Army. In Italy, the Allies finally dislodged the stubborn German defenders in northern Italy, and the Germans surrendered there in early May 1945. German forces in Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands also surrendered in May.

In mid April, the long awaited Soviet offensive against Berlin commenced. With tremendous superiority in men and equipment, some Soviet units broke through the beleaguered German line in quick fashion, although not without losses, but the German line directly in front of Berlin along the Oder River held out temporarily, with substantial casualties inflicted upon the Red Army. The German forces held some high ground, and they tenaciously defended it against the Soviet attack, but the inevitable breakthrough came, and the Red Army forces headed for Hitler's capital. The decimated German forces, a mixture of regular army units and Waffen SS forces,* fell back toward Berlin, where Nazi diehards organized Hitler Youth and old men to try to hold the city. While the fighting was very bloody, from street to street, and building to building, the outcome was never in doubt, although Hitler held out hope that a German force south of the city would break through the Russian lines to relieve the capital. This was just another of his fantasies, and the German attack made little headway. The last known pictures of Hitler were taken as he ventured above ground to the Chancellery garden to decorate some Hitler Youth boys for their fighting against the Soviets in the streets of Berlin. There was just no shame by this man or his regime; sending children into combat.

News came that Mussolini had been caught and executed by Italian resistance fighters in northern Italy. The "Duce" and his entourage were then hung upside down from girders for Italians to revile, which they did, often spitting on the dead fascists. For Hitler, already determined not to fall into Soviet hands, Mussolini's death and exhibition convinced him beyond any doubt that suicide was the only way out. He married his long time mistress, Eva Braun (not pronounced "brawn," but rather pretty much like English "brown," its close relative, and with the same meaning), who had arrived from Bavaria. Interestingly, the German public really did not know about her, as that information he been strictly controlled by the Nazi propaganda machine. Hitler dictated his will to his secretary, in which he named a new government to take over after his death. Still the hate spewing psycho, he ranted about how Jews had instigated the war and about how the German people had proven themselves to be too weak by not winning the war. Not long after their marriage, Hitler and Eva retired to his room, and killed themselves. The Russian forces were only a couple of blocks away. The German commanders surrendered Berlin a couple of days later, and German military leaders surrendered for Germany a few days after that. The nightmare, while not over, was beginning to subside.

* The Waffen SS was the "militarized" or "armed" force ("Waffen"="weapon," and is closely related to the English word) part of the vast Nazi SS organization, with a number of its units being considered elite. The early units had all been volunteers and composed completely of Germans, more specifically Reich Germans; that is, Germans born and raised in Germany or Austria. During the early war years, the Waffen SS expanded, and it took volunteers from other countries, most often initially from "Germanic" countries, like the Netherlands, Flanders (see note), Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Later still, it recruited Germans who had not been born in Germany or Austria, called "Volksdeutsche," typically from places like Slovenia, Croatia, Rumania, and later Hungary. Eventually casualties were so high, the SS began drafting men instead of relying strictly upon volunteers. By mid war, the expansion of the Waffen SS included men who were neither German, nor Germanic, but rather Latvian, Estonian, Russian, Italian, French, Walloon (see note), and even Albanian and Bosnian Muslims! (see note 2) The Waffen SS was noted for its toughness and combat prowess, with some exceptions, but it was also known for atrocities, as many of its members were steeped in fanatical Nazi ideology.

(Note 1) Belgium essentially consisted of two main groups of people; the people of Flanders, called Flemings, who spoke a Germanic language, now usually referred to by linguists as a dialect of Dutch, and who comprised roughly 60% of the population, and of the French dialect speaking Walloons, who comprised slightly less than 40% of the population (Germans comprised the remaining small percentage).

(Note 2) Much of Albania and Bosnia had been occupied for quite some time by the Turks, who were Muslim. The Turks forcibly converted some of their subjects to Islam, thus the Muslim population of these areas.

WORD HISTORY:
Want-This common verb traces back to an Indo European base "wen(o)" or "weun," with the general notion of "to leave, to abandon," and by extension, "be lacking, be empty." This gave Old Germanic "wanaton(an)" meaning "to be lacking." This then gave Old Norse "vantr," with the meaning "to lack, to be lacking." English borrowed the word in the late 1100s as "wanten," with the same "lack" meaning. Gradually the notion of "lacking something" took on more of the meaning "desire for something 'lacking,' " and that "desire, wish," meaning has carried through to modern English. From what I could find, Icelandic and Faroese, both North Germanic languages descended from Old Norse, still have "vanta(r)," meaning "lacking." The other Germanic languages, including Old English already had similar words with the same general meaning of "lack(ing)." See "Word History" in next article, "wane," a relative of "want," and "wan" is "likely" a relative from the notion of "lacking color," but its history is more than a little sketchy; thus, I put the quotation marks around "likely." 

The German Question, Part One Hundred Forty-Seven

Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Two/G
"Germany in Retreat"

Just two months after the Axis surrender in North Africa, the Allies invaded the large Italian island of Sicily. Italian resistance was sporadic, at best, and essentially collapsed, but German forces on the island cost the Allies heavy causalities, before successfully evacuating to the Italian mainland. During the fighting for Sicily, Mussolini was deposed and then arrested. He eventually was held in a ski resort hotel on a mountain, Gran Sasso, in central Italy. Hitler ordered a special operation to rescue Il Duce ("the leader"), and in September German paratroopers and commandos landed by gliders near the resort and freed Mussolini.*

The new Italian government assured the Germans they would remain true to the alliance with Germany, but the Germans correctly suspected otherwise, and the Italians were in negotiations to surrender to the Allies. The Allies invaded parts of southern Italy in early September, and the Italian surrender was announced. Hitler already had military units in Italy, and he sent more troops to disarm the Italian military and to establish a front against an Allied advance northward. It was an agonizingly slow and bloody process for the Allies to capture Rome, and the German holding action was highly effective.

In Greece and Yugoslavia, strong resistance forces, many with communist affiliations, had developed against the Axis occupation, causing the Germans and Italians to use scarce troops and resources to try to truly secure these areas; something they were unsuccessful in doing.** The threat of Allied invasion, especially of Greece, also kept Axis forces tied down. When Italy surrendered, German forces ruthlessly disarmed and took custody of Italian troops, and many Italians were killed. Some Italians, however, remained committed to the German side for the rest of the war, while others joined the resistance movements.

In western Europe, the Germans continued to fortify the coastal areas against an expected Allied invasion. When 1943 passed without an invasion, the Germans believed 1944 would be the decisive year. Bunkers, coastal obstacles, barbed wire and massive reinforced concrete artillery emplacements lined the areas deemed most likely for the Allied invasion force. The guessing game continued for the Germans, as they tried to learn the exact location where Allied troops would try to come ashore and gain a foothold.

In Russia, after the disaster at Stalingrad, the German forces regained their balance, and Hitler decided to attack. While most of his military advisers opposed the new offensive, Hitler went ahead with the assault anyway. The German forces, especially armor, had made a remarkable recovery, and the Germans threw their forces against the Soviets near the city of Kursk. When the heaviest combat operations had ended in the spring of 1943, a large "bulge" remained in the Soviet lines. The German plan called for attacking at the base of this bulge on both sides (pinching it off), thus cutting off substantial Soviet forces. The Soviets were ready, and the clash of major forces took place in early July 1943. The German offensive failed, and the Soviets launched their own offensive against the now weakened German front. The German "home front" was shaken by the mounting casualties and defeats.

* The German military did some extraordinary things during the war; but they were serving such an evil nutcase.

** Bulgaria, part of the Axis alliance, also supplied troops to help garrison the area, as did Croatia, which had its own army and fascist militia in the aftermath of Yugoslavia's defeat in 1941.

WORD HISTORY:
Room-This noun goes back to Indo European "reu/rew/row," with the basic notion of "open space." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "ruman," with essentially the same meaning, "open space, space." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "rum," with a long "u" sound, with the same meaning. Later it became "roum," before the modern spelling. During the late 1300s it developed the sense "cargo space inside of a ship," which then expanded in the 1400s to "individual spaces inside of a house or building," which from then on became the predominant meaning in English. The verb form, meaning "to occupy a place for residency" or "to share a living space with someone," didn't come along until about the early 1800s. English still retains the "space" meaning when we say "make room for;" that is, "clear space for." Common in the other Germanic languages, although most retain the "space" notion as the primary meaning: German has "Raum," which tends to be used more for "space," as well as "room" (German "Weltraum" means "outer space"). It also can mean "vicinity" or "region," as in "im Raum Berlins," "in the Berlin region, in the Berlin vicinity." Hitler's term, "Lebensraum," meant "living space," or "living room," but not "living room" in the English language sense of "one of the main rooms in a dwelling, often used for entertainment, including for guests." Low German Saxon has "Ruum," Frisian has what now "seems" to be the rarely used "Rüm," Dutch has "ruim," Danish and Swedish have "rum," Norwegian has "rom," and Icelandic has "rúm."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Forty-Six

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Two/F/3
"Germany Versus the Soviet Union" Part Three
"The German Tide Ebbs"

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (then a U.S. territory, not a state). President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress agreed to a declaration of war on Japan. Roosevelt had been trying to help Britain as much as possible, without getting the U.S. directly involved in the war, by sending material aid to the British. Before Pearl Harbor, the American public was split over possible American involvement in the war. Hitler solved the issue of American participation in the war against Germany by declaring war on the United States on December 11 at a session of the Reichstag. Always the racist, Hitler didn't seem to realize that he was bringing a formidable foe into the war against him. Various statements indicated he believed Americans could not fight well, because they were such a mixture of ethnic and racial groups. Such nonsense helped to hasten his demise. Mussolini followed suit with a declaration of war by Italy on the United States. It wasn't long before heavily armed convoys were transporting American troops and war equipment to Britain.

In North Africa, Rommel's German and Italian forces faced a new British commander, Bernard Montgomery, and "Monty" launched a major offensive against Rommel in late October 1942, in what became the last part of the El Alamein battle. After terrible losses of men and equipment, and in spite of Hitler's order to hold his positions, Rommel ordered a retreat. Thousands of Axis prisoners were taken by the Allies. Meanwhile, the Americans and British forces landed troops in the French North African colonies of French Morocco and Algeria, which were behind Rommel's retreating army. Hitler and Mussolini rushed troops to Tunisia, another French colony sandwiched between Rommel's retreating forces in Libya and the Allied forces which had just landed. French resistance to the landings was relatively light, and the struggle then centered on Tunisia. While Rommel inflicted a punishing defeat on the Americans at a place called "Kasserine Pass" in February 1943, the German and Italian forces surrendered in May 1943. This now left Italy vulnerable to attack.

In the Soviet Union, Hitler's stalled capture of Stalingrad gave the Soviets time to gather fresh troops north and south of the city. In mid November 1942 they struck, breaking through primarily overwhelmed Rumanian lines and trapping a large German, and a smaller Rumanian force, in and around Stalingrad. By early February 1943, the remaining encircled forces surrendered to the Soviets. During the overall Soviet operations that winter, the whole southern sector of the Axis front was pummeled, and a Hungarian army and an Italian army, besides two Rumanian armies and a German army were essentially destroyed. The Germans did not stabilize the front until February/March 1943, but they had lost virtually all of their gains from the previous summer. Although there would still be much intense fighting, Hitler's days were numbered.

WORD HISTORY:
Ebb-This word, closely related to "off," goes back to Indo European "apo," which meant "off, away (from)." This gave Old Germanic "ab," with the same meaning, and from that Old Germanic developed "abjon," with the meaning "tide flowing away, tide flowing 'off' from shore;" thus, "low tide." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "ebba," which later dropped the ending "a." The figurative use to mean "decline of someone or something" was already in use in the 1300s. There are various forms present in the other Germanic languages: German has "Ebbe," Low German Saxon has "Ebben," West Frisian has "ebbe," Dutch "eb," Icelandic has "ebbið" (=ebbith), Swedish has "ebb," Norwegian has "ebbe" and Danish has "ebbe." Some of the Germanic languages still retain a verb form, English being one of those, and in Old English it was "ebbian." Dutch has "ebben."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Forty-Three

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Two/E
"Greece & Yugoslavia Fall"

In late October 1940, Benito Mussolini launched an ill prepared and untimely (nearly winter) invasion of Greece from Albania, an Italian possession in those days. Greece has many rough and mountainous areas, where winter comes early, and the Greeks were no push overs, they were tough. Not only did they stop the Italian forces, they counterattacked, throwing the Italians back into Albania! Mussolini then sent more troops to help halt the Greek advance. The Greeks were halted by the Italians and winter weather, but once again Hitler prepared to step in to bolster his sagging ally. The British had sent some forces to help the Greeks, but this diminished their forces and supplies in North Africa, where they too had the Italians on the run at that time. With spring in the offing, the Germans had an invasion plan to overrun Greece.

Yugoslavia, another creation of post-World War One, had similar problems to Czechoslovakia; that is, it was a multi-ethnic nation governed by its largest ethnic group, the Serbs.* Other groups were not happy with the arrangement, especially the Croats, or Croatians, who wanted much more autonomy, with some more radical elements wanting an outright independent Croatia. Further, there were increasingly strong fascist-type groups throughout the country, including the much stronger Croatian group the "Ustaše," which maintained close ties to the fascist nations of Germany and Italy.

Yugoslavia was ruled by a regent, Prince Paul, until the king, Peter II, reached maturity. The Serb leaders, once committed more to the western powers of Britain and France, saw these powers as too weak after their behavior over Czechoslovakia, and they turned more and more to Italy and, especially Germany, for economic ties, and for protection against the Soviet Union. Hitler wanted the Yugoslav government to sign the alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan, as other eastern European countries were doing. Prince Paul reluctantly agreed, but the action was not popular with Serbian military leaders or with much of the non-Croatian population, especially the Serbs. Prince Paul was overthrown and King Peter II, by then 17, took power. In spite of assurances by the king and Serb leaders that the treaty with the Axis would be honored, Hitler had the German military draw up plans for the invasion of Yugoslavia, to be undertaken simultaneously with the invasion of Greece. Mussolini committed an Italian army to the invasion from northeastern Italy, where Italy had a common border with Yugoslavia. Bulgaria also participated on a limited basis, as did Hungary; both were signatories to the Axis alliance.

The invasions started in early April 1941, and the Yugoslav army, fractured by the Serb-Croatian split, was overwhelmed by the invaders. The Germans rolled through Greece also, and while there were periods of intense fighting in both Yugoslavia and Greece, the outcome was not in doubt, and both countries surrendered after a short time. The British forces, along with some Greek forces, evacuated to the Greek island of Crete. The Germans launched an assault on the island, led by a massive paratroop drop, the largest ever undertaken up to that time. German casualties were heavy, but again, the outcome was not long in doubt, and once again, the British evacuated many of their forces from the island. "Evacuation" was becoming a word all too familiar to the British.

The Germans, Italians and their allies now ruled Greece and Yugoslavia, at least on paper or maps. The terrain of both countries was rough and mountainous, ideal for insurgency groups to hide and launch attacks on the occupiers, and this happened with increasing frequency. You can see how Germany and her allies were stretching themselves thin, as they now had to garrison these countries with substantial forces to try to control the insurgency forces of both Greece and Yugoslavia. From a military viewpoint, they gained little for all of these efforts. Croatia was set up as an independent nation, but naturally tied to the Axis.

* There was a substantial German minority in Yugoslavia of about 700,000. Most of the Germans lived in areas that had been a part of Austria-Hungary until the end of World War One, with the largest group being the "Danube Swabians" ("Donauschwaben"), a general term for the German population living in or near the Danube River valley, although not just in Yugoslavia, but also in Hungary and in part of Rumania. Part of these "Danube Swabians" in Yugoslavia was the German population in a region called the "Banat," with the Germans there called "Banater Deutsche." Many of these Danube Swabians came to America after World War Two, with a fairly large number coming here to Cleveland. For many years there was a club called "The Banater Club," in Cleveland (West 140th Street, near Lorain Avenue), and then these Germans built a new, much more extensive club in the mid 1980s here, called "The Donauschwaben German-American Cultural Center," at Lenau Park on the suburban West Side.

WORD HISTORY:
Hit-The origin of "hit" is unknown. Old Germanic had "hitjanan," which meant "to come into contact with, come upon, meet." Apparently the word only endured in Old Norse, as "hitta." It wasn't until about 1100 that English borrowed the word as "hittan," and it still retained the meaning "to meet, to come into contact with." This later became "hitten," and it also extended the notion of "meet, come into contact with" to mean "strike." The native English word for "strike" was "slean," the forerunner of modern "slay," which in those times meant both "strike, hit," but also "kill." Gradually "hit" overtook "slay" in that meaning, leaving "slay" with the meaning "to kill." The original sense of "hit," however, is still around in the expression, "hit upon (something)." A noun version appeared in the late 1400s or early 1500s, derived from the verb. Forms of the word are still present in the North Germanic languages: Norwegian "hitte," which seems to now be archaic, Danish "hitte" and Swedish "hitta," both of which mean "find" (Get it? "Come upon, come into contact with"="find"), and Icelandic "hitta," which means "to meet."    

The German Question, Part One Hundred Thirty-Nine

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Two/A
"Hitler Rules Western Europe" Part One: "France Falls"


These articles will not deal with all of the battles and details of World War Two, but rather they will be more of a general overview of events, with perhaps a little more detail on some subjects. There are literally tons of material on World War Two available, so use your local library's resources if particular events are of interest to you. There is plenty of information online, too.

The "Sitzkrieg" ("Sitting War," see "Word History" below) continued in western Europe throughout the fall and winter of 1939-1940.* By the spring of 1940, the German military, now with its forces transferred from Poland to western Germany, was ready to go on the offensive. The Maginot Line was a formidable barrier, so the Germans planned to go around it. The French and their British allies weren't stupid, and they knew Hitler, like Kaiser Wilhelm II before him, would choose to violate Belgium's neutrality (and probably Luxembourg's, too) with the idea of pushing into northern France via that area. The Allies stationed strong forces near the Franco-Belgian border, and these forces were prepared to enter Belgium to meet and halt the German offensive there.

The Germans kept their "West Wall" defenses (known as the "Siegfried Line" to many western Europeans and Americans) manned by scaled down forces, while the bulk of their "striking army" prepared to invade through Belgium, Luxembourg, and, unlike during World War One, through the Netherlands. The Germans weren't stupid either, and they knew the Allies would cross into Belgium once German forces invaded that country to try to defeat them there; thus sparing northern France the destruction it experienced in World War One. The thing about the German plan was, they WANTED the Allies to enter Belgium in force. Here's why: On May 10, 1940, the German offensive started against Belgium and the Netherlands. The Allies moved northward out of France into Belgium to meet the attack. The Germans then, in a stunning bit of strategy, sent strong armored and motorized forces through southeastern Belgium and Luxembourg, through the heavily wooded and rugged terrain of an area known as the Ardennes. The French border area opposite this area had been left relatively lightly defended, as the Ardennes was considered by the Allies to be impassable for heavy German forces. The Germans proved otherwise, and they broke through the French forces stationed around the city of Sedan and headed for the northern French coast. Once there, the Allies, still fighting German forces in Belgium, were cut off. It was a disaster of the worst kind, with British, French and some Belgian forces trapped around the city of Dunkirk. The British people rallied to the cause, sending every ship or boat they had available across the Channel to help evacuate the surrounded army. Many lost their lives, but an army of more than 300,000 was ferried to safety in Britain, albeit without their heavy weapons.

The handwriting was on the wall, but France fought on for a few more weeks.** The French signed an armistice on June 22 in the same railway car, on the same spot, used to get the German signature on the armistice ending World War One. Hitler now ruled much of western Europe.

* Just a note: In November of 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland. While the Soviets had a commanding superiority in men and equipment over Finland, the gallant Finns gave the Soviets an embarrassing tussle. Eventually the Finns could not hold on against such overwhelming force and a treaty was signed between the two countries, with the Soviet Union taking territory from Finland. This served to move Finland closer to a potential powerful ally, Hitler's Germany.

** On June 10, exactly one month after the German offensive started, Mussolini, fearful the war would end before he got into it; thus thwarting any Italian claim to territory in southern France (part of the "Riviera" had been disputed between France and Italy for quite some time), declared war on France and Britain. The relatively small French force on the Italian border gave the Italians all they could handle, and the Italian army gained very little ground.

WORD HISTORY:
Sit-This common verb goes back to Indo European "sed," with the meaning "to sit." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "sitjanan," with the same meaning. From this came Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "sittan," meaning "to sit, to be seated, to possess or occupy," which later became "sitten," before the shortened modern spelling and over time, it added the meanings "to be inactive, to be lazy, the act of a legislative body in session, to have a position of judgment over someone or something, to not get involved in some undertaking." Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "sitzen" (originally "sizzen"), Low German Saxon "sitten," Frisian "sitte," Dutch "zitten," Swedish sitta, Icelandic sitja, Danish sidde, Norwegian "sitte."