Pectacon: Otto Frank’s company, established in June 1938 to sell ground meat, herbs, and spices. Hermann van Pels worked for Pectacon.
Persoonsbewijs (PB): An identity card that, from April 1941, all Dutch citizens aged fifteen and older were required to carry. It was introduced by order of the Germans and turned out to be a great help in the persecution of Jews and resistance fighters. The identity card of Jews was printed with a large black J. People with a Sperre had a Sperre stamp on their identity cards.
Politieke Opsporingsdienst (POD) (Political Investigation Service): A police branch dedicated to tracing and arresting people suspected of collaboration and war crimes. The POD was started in February 1945 and fell under the military authority that was in power directly after the war.
Politieke Recherche Afdeling (PRA) (Political Investigation Department): The new name of the POD from March 1946 after the military authority handed over power to the civil administration and political order was restored. It was under the Ministry of Justice.
Pulsen (pulses): The nickname for the emptying of houses of Jews in Amsterdam who were deported, after the Abraham Puls moving company, which would come within a few days to empty the homes. Abraham Puls was a Dutch NSB member.
Radio Oranje (Radio Orange): The name of a fifteen-minute radio program that was broadcast every evening at 20:15 by BBC European Service. It was organized by the Dutch government in exile in London. The first broadcast took place on July 28, 1940. Many people in the Netherlands had access to an illegal radio set and would secretly listen to the program.
Ravensbrück concentration camp: A concentration camp predominantly for women, about fifty miles north of Berlin. From its opening in 1939 until liberation, approximately thirty thousand people died there.
Razzia (pl. Razzias): A large-scale Nazi hunt for a certain group of people (Jews, resistance fighters, people who were dodging mandatory labor duty). Razzias were held throughout the Third Reich.
Referat IV B4 (section): The section within the Sicherheidsdienst (SD) charged with Jewish affairs. Under Adolf Eichmann, it was the organization responsible for the deportation of Jews to the extermination camps. It was referred to colloquially as the Jew-hunting unit.
Reichskommissar für die besetzten niederl?ndischen Gebiete: Civilian Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands Arthur Seyss-Inquart.
Residents Project: An investigative initiative by the Cold Case Team in which all homes surrounding the Annex were researched to determine who lived where and what could be discovered about their history, political orientation, criminal records, and other information.
Rijksinstituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie (RIOD): Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation; now called the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Sachsenhausen concentration camp: A concentration camp situated twenty-five miles north of Berlin. It was a relatively large camp that, from its start in 1936 until liberation, housed over two hundred thousand prisoners, of whom approximately fifty thousand died. The conditions in Sachsenhausen were barbaric, and prisoners were shot or hanged on a daily basis.
Schutzstaffel (SS): Originally a paramilitary organization, founded in 1925, that acted as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard. The group grew into what the Nazis saw as an elite unit, led by Heinrich Himmler, and was divided into the regular SS and the Waffen-SS. It was the most powerful organization in the Nazi state and was predominantly responsible for the execution of the Holocaust.
Sicherheitsdienst (SD) (Security Service): The intelligence service of the German state, which also provided support to the Gestapo and cooperated with the Administration of the Interior. It was under the SS and was led by Reinhard Heydrich. The SD was tasked with observing and prosecuting political opponents of the Third Reich, including the Jews.
Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo): The German security police.
Signalementenblad: A magazine published beginning in October 1943 by the Ordedienst (OD) resistance movement. It contained the names, descriptions, and photos of more than seventy traitors and collaborators. It was printed for resistance workers so that they could identify hostiles.
Sobibor concentration camp: An extermination camp in eastern Poland. The camp operated from April 1942 to November 1943. At least 170,000 people, mostly Jews, were deported to Sobibor. Hardly anyone who was deported to Sobibor survived. An estimated 34,000 Dutch Jews were murdered there.
Sperre (pl. Sperres): A temporary exemption from deportation that was issued by the Jewish Council after approval by the Zentralstelle. There were many grounds on which to qualify for a Sperre, including being indispensable to the war industry and working for the Jewish Council. Many of the Sperres needed to be purchased or had a processing fee associated with them (such as the 120,000 Sperre). The funds would ultimately go to the German war effort.
Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen, Telegrafie en Telefonie (PTT): The Dutch state-owned company responsible for the post, telegraph, telephone, and radiotelephone. Privatized in 1998, it is now known as KPN.
Stadsarchief Amsterdam: Amsterdam City Archives (ACA).
Statements Project: An investigative initiative of the Cold Case Team to collect all statements made by witnesses over the years in print, audio, or video format with regard to the raid. These were placed onto a timeline to identify contradictions or corroborations.
Stichting Toezicht Politieke Delinquenten (STPD) (Political Deliquents Supervision Foundation): An organization founded in September 1945 out of concern about the possible social disruptions caused by the presence of so many political delinquents. Its aim was to assist in their return to society. People suspected of collaboration could be excluded from prosecution if they were placed under the supervision of the STPD.
Theresienstadt concentration camp: A concentration camp and ghetto approximately forty-five miles north of Prague established by the Schutzstaffel (SS) in 1941. It served three purposes: a way station to the extermination camps, a “retirement settlement” for elderly and prominent Jews, and a camp used to mislead the public about the horrors of the Holocaust.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM): A museum located in Washington, DC.
Utrechts Kindercomité (Utrecht Children’s Committee): A Dutch resistance group from Utrecht that was engaged in the hiding of several hundred Jewish children.
Verzuiling (pillarization): The division of a society into groups, or “pillars,” on a philosophical, religious, or socioeconomic basis. These groups voluntarily separated from one another. For example, Protestants would go to Protestant shops, Protestant sports clubs, and Protestant schools, listen to Protestant radio, read Protestant newspapers, and vote for Protestant political parties. Since the members of the various pillars seldom mixed, there was little solidarity between them.
Vertrouwens-Mann, Vertrouwens-Frau (V-Man, V-Woman): Terms used for civilians working undercover for the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). They were used for gathering information on Jews in hiding, downed pilots, and members of the resistance. Those informants were ideologically motivated, acted for profit, or were coerced.
Vught concentration camp: A concentration camp near the city of Den Bosch in the south of the Netherlands. The camp was completed in 1942 and was under command of the SS. It was designed to relieve the pressure on the Amersfoort and Westerbork camps and to serve as a labor camp for surrounding industries. In October 1944, it was liberated by the Allies. During the war it held around thirty thousand prisoners, of whom almost eight hundred died.