Aryanization
/ˌɛə.ri.ə.naɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/noun
The Nazi-era forced transfer of Jewish-owned property and businesses to non-Jewish control.
Did you know?Aryanization is a Nazi propaganda term built from “Aryan,” a word originally tied to Indo-Iranian self-designations, then twisted into a racial weapon in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Indo-Iranian
Proto-Indo-Iranian
*arya-
“A self-designation meaning roughly “noble” or “of one’s own group””
Ancient India
Sanskrit
ā́rya
“Noble, respectable, or belonging to the in-group”
Ancient Iran
Old Persian
ariya-
“Aryan; a self-name used by Iranian peoples”
19th Century
European scholarship
Aryan
“A racialized term misused in pseudo-scientific theories of race”
1930s–1940s
German
Arisierung
“The Nazi seizure and forced transfer of Jewish property to “Aryan” ownership”
Modern English
English
Aryanization
“The process, especially under Nazism, of transferring property from Jews to non-Jews under coercion”