Sobibor concentration camp: An extermination camp in eastern Poland. The camp operated from April 1942 to November 1943. At least 170,000 people, mostly Jews, were deported to Sobibor. Hardly anyone who was deported to Sobibor survived. An estimated 34,000 Dutch Jews were murdered there.
Sperre （pl. Sperres）： A temporary exemption from deportation that was issued by the Jewish Council after approval by the Zentralstelle. There were many grounds on which to qualify for a Sperre, including being indispensable to the war industry and working for the Jewish Council. Many of the Sperres needed to be purchased or had a processing fee associated with them （such as the 120,000 Sperre）。 The funds would ultimately go to the German war effort.
Staatsbedrijf der Posterijen, Telegrafie en Telefonie （PTT）： The Dutch state-owned company responsible for the post, telegraph, telephone, and radiotelephone. Privatized in 1998, it is now known as KPN.
Stadsarchief Amsterdam: Amsterdam City Archives （ACA）。
Statements Project: An investigative initiative of the Cold Case Team to collect all statements made by witnesses over the years in print, audio, or video format with regard to the raid. These were placed onto a timeline to identify contradictions or corroborations.
Stichting Toezicht Politieke Delinquenten （STPD） （Political Deliquents Supervision Foundation）： An organization founded in September 1945 out of concern about the possible social disruptions caused by the presence of so many political delinquents. Its aim was to assist in their return to society. People suspected of collaboration could be excluded from prosecution if they were placed under the supervision of the STPD.
Theresienstadt concentration camp: A concentration camp and ghetto approximately forty-five miles north of Prague established by the Schutzstaffel （SS） in 1941. It served three purposes: a way station to the extermination camps, a “retirement settlement” for elderly and prominent Jews, and a camp used to mislead the public about the horrors of the Holocaust.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum （USHMM）： A museum located in Washington, DC.
Utrechts Kindercomité （Utrecht Children’s Committee）： A Dutch resistance group from Utrecht that was engaged in the hiding of several hundred Jewish children.
Verzuiling （pillarization）： The division of a society into groups, or “pillars,” on a philosophical, religious, or socioeconomic basis. These groups voluntarily separated from one another. For example, Protestants would go to Protestant shops, Protestant sports clubs, and Protestant schools, listen to Protestant radio, read Protestant newspapers, and vote for Protestant political parties. Since the members of the various pillars seldom mixed, there was little solidarity between them.
Vertrouwens-Mann, Vertrouwens-Frau （V-Man, V-Woman）： Terms used for civilians working undercover for the Sicherheitsdienst （SD）。 They were used for gathering information on Jews in hiding, downed pilots, and members of the resistance. Those informants were ideologically motivated, acted for profit, or were coerced.
Vught concentration camp: A concentration camp near the city of Den Bosch in the south of the Netherlands. The camp was completed in 1942 and was under command of the SS. It was designed to relieve the pressure on the Amersfoort and Westerbork camps and to serve as a labor camp for surrounding industries. In October 1944, it was liberated by the Allies. During the war it held around thirty thousand prisoners, of whom almost eight hundred died.
Waffen-SS: The military fighting branch of the SS under Heinrich Himmler. Founded in 1934 under the name SS-Verfügungstruppe, it was renamed Waffen-SS in 1940. It was considered an elite fighting force, and its members were known for their fanatical ideological zeal.
Wannsee Conference: A meeting of fifteen senior Nazi officials （among others Reinhardt Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann） held on January 20, 1942, at Villa Marlier on the Wannsee near Berlin. The main subject of the meeting was the large-scale destruction of European Jewry.
Weerbaarheidsafdeling （WA） （Resilience Department）： The uniformed militia of the Dutch Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging （NSB）。
Wehrmacht: The German Army.
Westerbork camp: A refugee camp in the northeast of the Netherlands built by the Dutch government in 1938. During the war, the camp was transformed into a transit camp from which 102,000 Jews and more than 200 Roma were deported by train to concentration and extermination camps in the east. After liberation the camp was used to imprison suspected war criminals and collaborators.
Wirtschaftsprüfstelle （WSP） （Economic Inspection Agency）： The agency by which the German occupier kept records of all Jewish property. From October 1940, Jewish companies were obliged to register with the WSP, which was part of the Generalkommission für Finanzen und Wirtschaft （General Commission for Finance and Economy）。 From March 1941, Jewish companies could be taken over by Aryan deputies and eventually liquidated. This was done by the trust company known as Omnia-Treuhandgesellschaft.