ORGANISE - ORGANISIEREN: the most popular expression in concentration camp jargon, which can be loosely translated as “getting by using your wits”. What it really means is stealing.

ORA: Organisation de Résistance de l'Armée, or Armed Resistance Organisation. In violation of the Armistice, the tiny army that Nazi Germany allowed France to keep stored weapons. After the Germans invaded the southern zone in November 1942, the Armistice army was disbanded and the Nazis seized most of the hidden weapons. Then the generals who had been in charge of concealing them decided to create an underground movement, the Organisation de résistance armée (ORA), which was led by General Frère. In early 1944 General Frère was arrested, deported and succeeded by General Verneau, who in turn was arrested and replaced by General Revers. The ORA’s role in the fighting to liberate France varied from one region to another. In 1944 the ORA, AS and FTP formed the Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (FFI), whose commander in chief was General Koenig.

OSS: Office of Strategic Services. The US secret services, which sent agents to France, although not nearly as many as the SOE. Many arrived after D-Day as part of the Jedburgh missions made up of British, French and Americans trained in guerilla tactics. They brought weapons and commanders to the local French Resistance, especially in the western part of the southern zone.

OSTMARK: Germany’s official name for Austria after it annexed the country by force (Anschluss) in March 1938.

OT: Todt Organisation. In February 1933 Hitler appointed the engineer Fritz Todt to head an organisation in charge of the Reich’s construction projects. The organisation was named after him. His first project was Germany’s motorway network. Then the TO built the Siegfried Line to defend the Reich against an attack from the west. Its most famous project in France was the Atlantic Wall, for which it conscripted thousands of French and foreign workers. It often came into conflict with Sauckel, who was always looking for labour to send to Germany in the framework of the STO.

OUTSIDE KOMMANDO: an annex camp depending on a large camp subdivided into: various work commandos.