Buchenwald is the most famous concentration camp created by the Nazis during the Third Reich, through which about 250,000 people passed during the Second World War. Each of his prisoners remembered the inscription on the gates of this terrible place for life. So what was written at the entrance to Buchenwald's hell?
Greek saying
On the gates of Buchenwald, the Nazis wrote "Jedem das Seine" - a phrase translated into German from Latin "suum cuique". In literal translation, it means "to each his own" - this saying was used in ancient Greece, where it was the classical principle of justice. The Germans interpreted it in their own way, taking the words from the seventh commandment of the Catholic catechism, which reads "Gönn jedem das seine" - "Give each one his own."
Today, this phrase is perceived negatively in modern Germany and other countries affected by the Nazis, who associate the statement with the Third Reich.
In fact, the Germans turned “Jedem das Seine” into a typical propaganda slogan of those times, making it a semblance of another of their slogans “Arbeit macht frei” (translated as “Labor liberates”). This mocking statement was hung over the entrances to Nazi camps such as Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen, Dachau, Theresienstadt and Sachsenhausen. The Nazis also used the Latin version of the phrase, making it the motto of the Order of the Black Eagle, which was established by Frederick, as well as the motto of the German military police.
History of the inscription
The expression "To each his own" or "suum cuique" became famous thanks to the ancient Roman philosopher, orator and politician Cicero, who used it in his treatises On the Limits of Good and Evil, On Duties and On Laws. Later, this catch phrase began to be used not only in a legal context. Today it is the motto of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. In 1998, Nokia used the phrase “Jedem das Seine” in its German mobile phone advertising campaign, which caused a great public outcry.
In Germany, the phrase "Jedem das Seine" is banned as a Nazi symbol associated with a call for mass murder.
Also, manufacturers of various goods have repeatedly tried to use this phrase for their advertising purposes. For example, Rewe used it cynically in their grill advertisements, and Microsoft mentioned Jedem das Seine in its German advertisement for Bürosoftware2. The McDonalds corporation also did not stand aside, using the statement in the design of the menu of its branch in Thuringia. In connection with the increased use of "Jedem das Seine", the German authorities tried to draw public attention to this problem, which is painful for the people of Germany.
