Schutzhaft

German

Etymology

19th century, from Schutz (“protection”) +‎ Haft (“custody”). The law was first used to detain opponents between 1914 and 1919. The Nazi government revived and greatly escalated this practice, often giving the pretext that the arrested had to be protected from the wrath of the general population.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃʊt͡sˌhaft]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Schutz‧haft

Noun

Schutzhaft f (genitive Schutzhaft, plural (rare) Schutzhaften)

1. (law) protective custody
2. (Nazism) arbitrary incarceration of those considered enemies of the regime (e.g. communists)

Declension

Declension of Schutzhaft [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Schutzhaft	die	Schutzhaften1
genitive	einer	der	Schutzhaft	der	Schutzhaften1
dative	einer	der	Schutzhaft	den	Schutzhaften1
accusative	eine	die	Schutzhaft	die	Schutzhaften1

¹Rare.

Further reading

• “Schutzhaft” in Duden online
• “Schutzhaft” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache