Last night, I was watching one of the many World War II documentaries that appear on German television. This one concerned the battles in north Africa. An old British soldier stated in voice-over German that although things looked bad, General Montgomery would not even allow his men to utter the word Niederlage. What were they forbidden to mention? Nieder means down or low, and die Lage means situation, position, or attitude. The forbidden word die Niederlage, therefore, means defeat.
Clare B. Dunkle
