"Führer" is a German word. Hearing it, they usually recall the name of the most terrible criminal of the 20th century - Adolf Hitler. How is this word literally translated? And does it have other meanings?
Leader, he is the Fuhrer
Perhaps the translation from German is known to everyone. "Leader", "leader" - such analogues to this noun are in Russian. The word der Führer comes from the verb f ühren , which is translated as “lead,” “lead,” “govern.” There are other meanings.
D er Führer - leader, chapter. This word can also be translated as "guide", "guide", "guide". These meanings have a distant connection with the concept that we are considering in this article. After all, the Fuhrer is the one who not only leads. He leads the people to the cherished goal, upon achievement of which universal happiness should come.
True, happiness only affects the elite. For example, representatives of the "higher race". As a basis, the word "Fuhrer" acquired exactly this meaning. The translation from German until 1941 in the Soviet Union did not provoke negative associations among the people. After all, this state ruled its Fuhrer - a man who for some reason was customarily called the leader.
Hitler
The Germans endowed Hitler with the title "Fuhrer". This sounds strange to someone who knows the translation of a word. But the use of the term "leader" in relation to Stalin once seemed equally absurd to foreigners.
The Führer is the leader. Kameraden is a friend. Hitler's and Stalin's dictatorships have a lot in common. Many books have been written about this today. In his novel Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman compared the tyrants of the twentieth century, for which he later paid. This word has many shades. And the negative ones appeared in the second half of the twentieth century.
The Fuhrer is a dictator. We can say that thanks to Hitler, semantic neologism appeared in the German language. And just a few decades after the end of World War II, our country began to openly compare the German concept of “Fuhrer” with the Russian word “leader”. But, unlike Stalin, Hitler had such a title at the official level.
Fuhrer and Duce
In the thirties and the first half of Hitler's forties, his patriotic compatriots often called simply - Führer . The phrase Jawohl mein Führer has become stable! (Yavol, Mayn Fuhrer). Translation: "Yes, my leader!" The name of the German leader was not pronounced in vain. God-fearing Germans completely forgot about the commandment: "Do not make yourself an idol!" About how Hitler managed to win popular love, bordering on fanatical worship, many historical works have been written. However, he managed to become a Fuhrer far from immediately.
The path of this person to the political Olympus was long. Hitler did not have this title easily. In order to acquire the title of Fuhrer, he was engaged in propaganda for more than ten years, gaining great significance and respect among the members of the German Workers' Party. At first they did not notice him. Then he began to cause surprise, and after that reverence. By the end of the thirties, most of the German population idolized a small man who had so little in common with a typical German.
In 1922, Hitler was inspired by the example of Mussolini, namely his campaign against Rome. He soon surpassed the Italian politician in everything: in aggression, swiftness, power of influence on the masses. However, this was later. And first, Hitler borrowed the title from Mussolini. The Führer is the same Duce, only in the German manner.
Reichsfuhrer SS
One of the meanings of the word der Führer is leader. The phrase "Fuhrer SS" is not correct. SS is an abbreviation of the word Schutzstaffel, which means a paramilitary formation, which, like every organization, had a leader. He was the Reichsfuhrer. Literally, this title can be translated into Russian as "imperial leader."
The last German officer holding the post of Reichsfuhrer SS was Karl Hanke. However, he was in this rank for only six days. Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsfuhrer SS from 1929 to 1945, is more famous for history. Moreover, interest is caused not only by the life of this historical figure, but also by death.
Himmler was arrested at the end of the war by former Soviet prisoners of war. Nobody knew that he was a Reichsfuhrer, until he himself admitted this. And then Himmler managed to take a dose of potassium cyanide, stocked up according to the officer tradition, and die without having survived the interrogation. The fact that the man who declared himself Himmler and committed suicide was indeed a Reichsfuhrer was doubted for a long time. Therefore, shortly after the end of the war, exhumation was carried out.
Standartenfuhrer
This is another SS rank. Standartenfuhrer corresponded to the rank of colonel. It was this rank that the hero of the famous Soviet series “Seventeen Moments of Spring” Isaev had. The word "standartenfuhrer" is found in both cinema and literature. The name of this rank is mentioned, for example, in the Strugatsky’s book "Monday begins on Saturday."
Sonderfuhrer
Concluding the list of concepts from military terminology, this rank should also be called. Sonderfuhrer is an officer who has held a certain position due to any professional abilities.
Other values
The morpheme führer is part of many complex German words that have quite peaceful meanings. Example:
- Parteiführer (party leader).
- Oppositionsführer (opposition leader) .
- Spielführers (team captain).
- Abteilungsführer (department head).
- Zugführer (train commander) .