Geltungsjude

So, imagine you're on a playground and there are some kids who say you can't play with them because you don't have the right shoes or the right backpack. That's kind of like what a geltungsjude is. It's a German word that means "recognized Jew," and it was used during the Nazi regime to describe Jews who had official papers that said they were "worthy" of certain rights and protections.

Basically, the Nazis had a bunch of rules and laws that discriminated against Jewish people. But if you were a geltungsjude, it meant you had a special ID card that said you were allowed to maybe work certain jobs or live in certain areas. It was like getting a special permission slip to be treated a little bit better, even though it wasn't fair to everyone else who wasn't given that slip.

It's important to remember, though, that being a geltungsjude didn't mean you were safe from being persecuted or harmed by the Nazis. They still saw Jewish people as less than human, and ultimately their goal was to get rid of all of them. So even if you had the right papers, it didn't necessarily protect you from violence or death.