"'" () is the literal German translation of the Latin phrase ''

suum cuique "" (), or "''Unicuique suum''", is a Latin phrase often translated as "to each his own" or "may all get their due". It has been significant in the history of philosophy and as a motto. History Antiquity The Latin phrase relates to an old G ...

'', meaning "to each his own" or "to each what he deserves". During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the phrase was cynically used by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

as a motto displayed over the entrance of

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

. This has resulted in use of the phrase being considered controversial in modern Germany.

History

''Jedem das Seine'' has been an idiomatic German expression for several centuries. For example, it is found in the works of

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

and contemporaries. It appears in the title of a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, '' Nur jedem das Seine'' (BWV 163), first performed at

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

in 1715. Some nineteenth-century comedies bear the title ''Jedem das Seine'', including works by

Johann Friedrich Rochlitz Johann Friedrich Rochlitz (12 February 1769 – 16 December 1842) was a German playwright, musicologist and art and music critic. His most notable work is his autobiographical account ''Tage der Gefahr'' (''Days of Danger'') about the Battle o ...

and Caroline Bernstein. An ironic twist on the proverb, ''"jedem das Seine, mir das Meiste"'' ("to each his own, to me the most"), has been known in the reservoir of German idioms for a long time, including its inclusion in

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was t ...

's 1931 play '' The Captain of Köpenick''. In 1937, the

constructed the

, 7 km from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The motto ''Jedem das Seine'' was placed in the camp's main entrance gate. The gates were designed by Franz Ehrlich, a former student of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

art school, who had been imprisoned in the camp because he was a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

Controversies

Several modern advertising campaigns in the German language, including ads for

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

REWE Rewe (stylized as REWE; ) is a supermarket chain in Germany and the main brand of Rewe Group headquartered in Cologne. The name originated from an abbreviation of the original name "Revisionsverband der Westkauf-Genossenschaften" (Audit unio ...

grocery stores,

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

, and

Merkur Bank MERKUR PRIVATBANK KGaA is an owner-managed listed German private bank with headquarters in Munich. History In 1959 Zanwel Horowicz as well as Motek and Hela Horowicz founded Merkur Bank Horowicz KG in Munich, which at that time was mainly limite ...

, have been marred by controversy after using the phrase ''Jedem das Seine'' or ''Jedem den Seinen''. An

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

ad campaign in January 2009 touted

Tchibo Tchibo is a German chain of coffee retailers and cafés known for its range of non-coffee products that change weekly. The latter includes: clothing, furniture, household items, electronics and electrical appliances. In Germany, Tchibo's slogan i ...

coffee drinks at the company's

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

stores with the slogan ''Jedem den Seinen!''. The ads were withdrawn after protest from the

Central Council of Jews in Germany The Central Council of Jews in Germany (German name: Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland) is a federation of German Jews. It was founded on 19 July 1950, as a response to the increasing isolation of German Jews by the international Jewish communi ...

, and a company spokesman said its advertising contractor had been unaware of the proverb's association with Nazism. In March 2009, a student group associated with the Christian Democratic Union used the slogan for an education campaign in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

(Germany), but later withdrew it due to public outcry. In May 2018,

Peek & Cloppenburg Peek & Cloppenburg is an international chain of department stores from Germany. The chain is operated by two separate and independent companies, Peek & Cloppenburg KG Düsseldorf (known as P&C West) and Peek & Cloppenburg KG Hamburg (know ...

started a campaign using the motto and defended its use publicly after much criticism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jedem das seine German words and phrases Signage Terminology of Nazi concentration camps Holocaust terminology

History

Controversies

See also

References