Nacht und Nebel
![Commemorative plaque for the French victims at Hinzert concentration camp, showing the expressions Nacht und Nebel and](/Images/godic/202501/28/KZ-Hinzert-Plakette-Nacht-und-Nebel0551.jpg")
![Heinrich Himmler issued orders for Nacht und Nebel in 1941.](/Images/godic/202501/28/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-S72707,_Heinrich_Himmler0551.jpg")
![Wilhelm Keitel expanded the repressive Nacht und Nebel program to countries under military occupation.](/Images/godic/202501/28/Wilhelm_Keitel0551.jpg")
![Replica of a Holocaust train boxcar used by Nazi Germany to transport Jews and other victims during the Holocaust.](/Images/godic/202501/28/US_Holocaust_Memorial_Museum_-_Boxcar0551.jpg")
Nacht und Nebel [ˈnaχt ʊnt ˈneːbəl] (German for "Night and Fog") was a directive (German:Erlass) from Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 targeting political activists and resistance "helpers" that was originally intended to winnow out "anyone endangering German security" (die deutsche Sicherheit gefährden) throughout Nazi Germany's occupied territories. Its name was a direct reference to a Tarnhelm spell, from Wagner's Das Rheingold.