Amcho: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Jewish shibboleth used during World War II}} |
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{{AfC submission|t||ts=20240423214451|u=Urropean|ns=118|demo=}}<!-- Important, do not remove this line before article has been created. --> |
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''Amcho'' or ''amcha'', also [[Transliteration|transliterated]] as ''amkho'' or ''amkha'' ({{lang-he|עמכו|ʾamkho|one's people}}, plural: {{lang|he|עמכות}} ''ʾamkhot''; {{lang-yi|אמכא|amkha|common people}}), is an [[Idiom|idiomatic term]] that refers to the [[common people]], especially [[Jews]], as opposed to [[Elite|the elite]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Amcha |url=https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/19 |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=Jewish Languages}}</ref> It was commonly used among [[Jews in Europe]], especially during [[the Holocaust]], as a means of [[Race (human categorization)|identification]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0RMAxXgBes |title="Amkho?": The Secret Code of Jewish Refugees |language=en |access-date=2024-04-24 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author= |url=https://ahecinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/Witnesses-to-the-Holocaust_Stories-of-Minnesota-Holocaust-Survivors-and-Liberators.pdf |title=Witnesses to the Holocaust: Stories of Minnesota Holocaust Survivors and Liberators |access-date=2024-04-23}}</ref> |
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'''''I am still working on this page! Anyone who is to review it, please neglect it for the time being.''''' |
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During [[World War II]], when [[Jewish refugees]] were seeking family and friends during [[genocide]], the term ''amcho'' served as a [[shibboleth]] to identify fellow Jews.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jacob Szapszewicz |url=https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2003/11/03/holocaust-survivors-gather/50714714007/ |website=St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum}}</ref> In modern times, various [[Holocaust survivors|survivors]] recall using it to determine if strangers were Jewish and potentially find allies or assistance,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Slucki |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Laughter_After.html?id=oxioDwAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description |title=Laughter After: Humor and the Holocaust |last2=Patt |first2=Avinoam |last3=Finder |first3=Gabriel N. |date=2020-04-07 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=978-0-8143-4479-8 |language=en}}</ref> while some deny that the term was in common use during the war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is it true that during WW2, Jewish people had a secret code word called "amcho" that let other Jewish people know they were Jews? |url=https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-during-WW2-Jewish-people-had-a-secret-code-word-called-amcho-that-let-other-Jewish-people-know-they-were-Jews |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=Quora |language=en}}</ref> |
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<!-- {{Infobox term |
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|name = Amcho (עמכו) / Amcha (עמכא) |
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|pronunciation = amkho (Yiddish), amchul (Hebrew) |
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|image = |
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|caption = |
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|definitions = The every-man, everyday people; the folk (as opposed to the elite). |
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|languages = Textual Hebrew, Yiddish |
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|etymology = From Hebrew עמך (amkhá) 'your nation', through Yiddish עמך (ámkho) 'common people; Jews' |
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|regions = North America |
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|alternative_spellings = amha, amkha, amkho, amcho |
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|notes = Accent on first syllable. |
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}} --> |
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The term ''amcho'' or ''amcha'' (also transliterated as ''amkho'' or ''amkha'' from Hewbrew עמכו) refers to the [[common people]], everyday folk, or [[Jews]], as opposed to the elite. It was commonly used among [[Jews in Europe]], especially during [[the Holocaust]], as a means of secret identification.<ref>{{Cite video |title=Holocaust Survivor Testimony |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0RMAxXgBes |access-date=2024-04-23}}</ref> |
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<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amcha |url=https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/19 |website=Jewish Languages |access-date=2024-04-23}}</ref> |
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<ref>{{Cite book |title=Witnesses to the Holocaust: Stories of Minnesota Holocaust Survivors and Liberators |author=Various Authors |url=https://ahecinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/Witnesses-to-the-Holocaust_Stories-of-Minnesota-Holocaust-Survivors-and-Liberators.pdf |access-date=2024-04-23}}</ref> |
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== Personal anecdotes == |
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During [[World War II]], when Jewish refugees were seeking family and friends in the chaos, the term ''amcho'' served as a [[shibboleth]] to identify fellow Jews. In modern times, various survivors recall using it to determine if strangers were Jewish and potentially find allies or assistance, while some deny that the term was in common use during the war. |
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[[Polish people|Polish]] Holocaust survivor Jacob Szapszewicz recounted an incident during the war where he used the term ''amcho'' to identify a fellow Jew. While searching for a friend named [[Moshe]], Szapszewicz encountered him crossing a valley. He shouted in Hebrew.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oral History - Jacob Szapszewicz |url=https://stlholocaustmuseum.org/oral-history/jacob-szapszewicz/ |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum}}</ref> |
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{{quote|text= |
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… I saw [a shadow] — because he was a night man too — and he could walk quietly. [When I saw him,] I said, "That must be Moshe," and I started yelling … I was scared to yell Yiddish or Polish. I yelled, "Amcho!" ''Amcho'' in Hebrew [was like saying] "Jew." We used to communicate in this way, and nobody could know what ''amcho'' [meant]. I yelled, "Amcho, amcho!" He didn’t stop. So, I ran after him and he ran too and I felt he was scared of me, sure. He didn’t know who [I was]. I felt that I'm not going to catch him and I started yelling, "Moshe, Moshe!" and he stopped. |
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}} |
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In [[Timeline of World War II (1944)|1944]], Shayke Avni, a Jewish soldier in [[Red Army|the Red Army]] during World War II, recalled using the term to identify a fellow Jewish officer. By asking, he confirmed the officer's Jewish identity and facilitated a warm encounter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jews in the Red Army, 1941–1945 - Shayke (Yeshayahu) Avni |url=https://www.yadvashem.org/research/research-projects/soldiers/shayke-avni.html |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=Yad Vashem}}</ref> |
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{{quote|text= |
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… An officer with the rank of lieutenant, accompanied by about twenty privates, approached my tank. The men were muddy, wet, dirty, and frozen. I don't know how this occurred to me, but I believed that I was seeing a Jewish officer. In those days, I knew already the code accepted among Jews, my word was: ''Amkho?'', and the reply was "Kmokho – amkho." I resorted to this code and, thus, I learned that the officer was indeed Jewish, and that he had been drafted into the Red Army in 1940... Kaplan, that Jewish officer who rode on my tank in 1944, [later] also moved to Israel and, in the late 1960s, we met when both of us were officers of the Israeli Defense Forces. …'' |
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}} |
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== See also == |
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* [[Shibboleth]] |
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* [[Jewish greetings]] |
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* [[Rescue of Jews during the Holocaust]] |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{reflist}}[[:Category:Hebrew words and phrases]] |
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{{reflist}} |
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Revision as of 02:25, 24 April 2024
Amcho or amcha, also transliterated as amkho or amkha (Hebrew: עמכו, romanized: ʾamkho, lit. 'one's people', plural: עמכות ʾamkhot; Yiddish: אמכא, romanized: amkha, lit. 'common people'), is an idiomatic term that refers to the common people, especially Jews, as opposed to the elite.[1] It was commonly used among Jews in Europe, especially during the Holocaust, as a means of identification.[2][3]
During World War II, when Jewish refugees were seeking family and friends during genocide, the term amcho served as a shibboleth to identify fellow Jews.[4] In modern times, various survivors recall using it to determine if strangers were Jewish and potentially find allies or assistance,[5] while some deny that the term was in common use during the war.[6]
The term originates from Hebrew עמך (amkhá) meaning "one's nation," through Yiddish עמך (ámkho) meaning "common people," essentially "Jews".[1][2]
Personal anecdotes
Polish Holocaust survivor Jacob Szapszewicz recounted an incident during the war where he used the term amcho to identify a fellow Jew. While searching for a friend named Moshe, Szapszewicz encountered him crossing a valley. He shouted in Hebrew.[7]
… I saw [a shadow] — because he was a night man too — and he could walk quietly. [When I saw him,] I said, "That must be Moshe," and I started yelling … I was scared to yell Yiddish or Polish. I yelled, "Amcho!" Amcho in Hebrew [was like saying] "Jew." We used to communicate in this way, and nobody could know what amcho [meant]. I yelled, "Amcho, amcho!" He didn’t stop. So, I ran after him and he ran too and I felt he was scared of me, sure. He didn’t know who [I was]. I felt that I'm not going to catch him and I started yelling, "Moshe, Moshe!" and he stopped.
In 1944, Shayke Avni, a Jewish soldier in the Red Army during World War II, recalled using the term to identify a fellow Jewish officer. By asking, he confirmed the officer's Jewish identity and facilitated a warm encounter.[8]
… An officer with the rank of lieutenant, accompanied by about twenty privates, approached my tank. The men were muddy, wet, dirty, and frozen. I don't know how this occurred to me, but I believed that I was seeing a Jewish officer. In those days, I knew already the code accepted among Jews, my word was: Amkho?, and the reply was "Kmokho – amkho." I resorted to this code and, thus, I learned that the officer was indeed Jewish, and that he had been drafted into the Red Army in 1940... Kaplan, that Jewish officer who rode on my tank in 1944, [later] also moved to Israel and, in the late 1960s, we met when both of us were officers of the Israeli Defense Forces. …
See also
References
- ^ a b "Amcha". Jewish Languages. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ^ a b "Amkho?": The Secret Code of Jewish Refugees. Retrieved 2024-04-24 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Witnesses to the Holocaust: Stories of Minnesota Holocaust Survivors and Liberators (PDF). Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ^ "Jacob Szapszewicz". St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum.
- ^ Slucki, David; Patt, Avinoam; Finder, Gabriel N. (2020-04-07). Laughter After: Humor and the Holocaust. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-4479-8.
- ^ "Is it true that during WW2, Jewish people had a secret code word called "amcho" that let other Jewish people know they were Jews?". Quora. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
- ^ "Oral History - Jacob Szapszewicz". St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ^ "Jews in the Red Army, 1941–1945 - Shayke (Yeshayahu) Avni". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 2024-04-23.