‘German Ersatz”
(Literary Digest, 1937)
Speaking of Evil Geniuses, let’s not forget all that the German chemists did to dream-up efficient substitutes for motor fuel, rubber, coal and various metals just before Hitler launched the war in Europe.
The most significant little word in the German vocabulary of 1937 is Ersatz. In two syllables, which, literally translated, means ‘substitute’, it summarizes the bold experiment in rigged economy which is Adolf Hitler’s Four Year Plan… The Reich’s great chemical industry went into high gear immediately, and at this point Ersatz became the big little word of the German language.
