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[–] 28 points 9 months ago (2 children)

More so than that. It was the Nazi-era term referring to “the true Aryan German people”, and excluding all the Nazis regarded as degenerate or un-Aryan, as used in the adjective “volkisch”.

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  • [–] 8 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    Yep. Much like the swastika was a Hindu and Buddhist symbol (that Hindus and Buddhists have largely given up b/c Nazis) “volk” is one of those things the Nazis tainted for good.

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  • [–] 15 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    We do still use the word though, without associating it with the Third Reich at all. It's a neutral way to refer to ethnicities for example. "Wir sind das Volk" ("we are the people (of this country)") means the sovereignty of the people.

    "Völkisch" however is tainted (and when non-Germans use "Volk", it is indeed at least suspicious).

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    Volk - folk. Is there a Volklore - folklore somewhere in there as well?

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago

    I'm assuming it's the same root, yes. "Folklore" in German means the same thing, although we pronounce it differently. Don't ask me why we don't spell it "Volklore" - if I had to guess, I'd say the term is older than the spelling "Volk", not least because "Lore" on its own doesn't exist (anymore) in German.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    I'm German and I never even knew of that association. (Despite 3 years of WW2 and Hitlers Idiocracy in school)

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    Volksempfänger(propaganda radio), Volkswagen, Volkssturm, völkischer beobachter(nazi newspaper) etc. all originate in that time or were used excessively. So maybe not directly but there are lots of signs or rather word combinations that originated in that time.

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