Nazi-era phonetic alphabet set for erasure
A version of Germany’s phonetic alphabet which was adopted in the Nazi era is set to be removed following a campaign by activists.
Alongside the current worldwide phonetic alphabet – also known as the NATO or aviation alphabet – Germany has its own phonetic alphabet. Created in 1890 it was amended in 1934 in accordance with Nazi ideology.
The Nazis changed 14 terms, including names derived from Hebrew or considered particularly Jewish. Also, ‘Nathan’ became ‘Nordpol’ (North Pole) allegedly symbolising the master race and Ypsilon became ‘Ypres,’ famously known as the WWI battle where Germans first used poison gas.
After WWII, Ypres was changed back to Ypsilon but Nordpol is still in use in the German alphabet today.
Germany’s Institute for Standardisation (DIN) has, however, now agreed to remove the Nazi-era changes and to devise new terms for the problematic letters following a request from an activist based in Baden-Württemberg.
The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany welcomed the activist initiative, noting that it was “high time we freed ourselves from the language of the Nazis.”
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