Gröfaz

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Gröfaz (in the notation Gröfaz ) as a nickname used acronym for " large ßter F eldherr a serial Z nits" and refers to Hitler .

The term did not spread until 1943 after the Battle of Stalingrad . He could have been linked to a formulation in the long form, that of Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel in the wake of the Western campaign and the conquest of the Benelux was dominated countries, and will northern France:

"My Führer, you are the greatest general of all time."

- Wilhelm Keitel
In the Nazi media, Hitler is stylized as the “Greatest General of All Time”. Reception in Berlin, Nationalblatt July 8, 1940

The abbreviation "Gröfaz", which does not go back to Keitel, was supposed to make fun of Hitler and the National Socialists' preference for abbreviations. The abbreviation was used by Hitler's commanding generals long before the end of the war with gallows humor and with ironic intent. In fact, according to the press instructions from 1942, instead of the title “Fuhrer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht” the term “the Führer” should be used. Hitler's nickname Fuehrer experienced a pathetic exaggeration through his "use in quasi-religious contexts."

In addition, since the mid-1960s, journalistic and popular works have occasionally found the dissolution of the acronym as “the greatest leader of all time”.

Derived variants

In the German-speaking world , numerous variations of this mock acronym have developed. Examples:

  • The PARTY , one as satire founded German Party, uses the title in the modified form GröVaZ as " large ßter V hairman a serial Z nits" for its chairman Martin Sonneborn .
  • Also in Storch Heinar which the popular under extreme right fashion label Thor Steinar parodiert the title as is GröMaZ ( " large ßter M odedesigner a serial Z nits") verulkt.
  • The 45th President of the USA , Donald Trump , said of himself even before his election that he would be "the greatest president that God has ever created". In some German media he was at his discretion sarcastic with the acronym GröPaZ ( " large ßter P hairman a serial Z nits") referenced - alluding to those comments, his campaign slogan " America First " and the associated leadership of the United States and his own Person. In view of the impeachment process, he once again called himself the “greatest of all presidents” on Twitter at the end of December 2019 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gordon A. Craig : Germany 1866-1945 (= Oxford History of Modern Europe), Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-195-02724-8 .
  2. ^ Paul Watzlawick , The Language of Change. Elements of Therapeutic Communication , WW Norton & Company, ISBN 978-0-39331-020-7 .
  3. Gordon Craig, Karl Heinz Siber, German History 1866-1945 from the North German Confederation to the End of the Third Reich , CH Beck, 2nd edition 1980, ISBN 3-406-07815-X , p. 628.
  4. Cornelia Schmitz-Berning: Vocabulary of National Socialism , 2nd edition Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-11-019549-1 , pp. 243–244.
  5. See e.g. B. in Max Vandrey, The political joke in the Third Reich , Goldmann, Munich 1967 (Yellow Pocket Books 1805), p. 151.
  6. Dieter Thomä: Puer robustus A philosophy of the troublemaker . 1st edition. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-518-58690-7 , pp. 59 .
  7. 5 news: Donald Trump: I will be the 'greatest president God ever created'. In: Youtube. February 10, 2016, accessed January 21, 2020 .
  8. Jakob Augstein: Five reasons to thank Donald Trump. March 9, 2017, accessed January 21, 2020 .
  9. Trump hails himself 'greatest of all presidents' as Democrats meet to prepare impeachment charges. In: The Independent. December 7, 2019, accessed January 21, 2020 .
  10. Donald Trump Declares Himself As 'greatest Of All Presidents' Amid Impeachment. In: Republic World. December 8, 2019, accessed January 21, 2020 .
  11. Masculinity: Who will let the man continue? In: Zeit Online. December 27, 2019, accessed January 21, 2020 .