Gefallene

German for “fallen” – used to describe soldiers killed in action.

Judy Dempsey reported in The International Herald Tribune:

For the first time since German soldiers were sent to Afghanistan six years ago, [German defense minister Franz-Josef] Jung referred in November to the Gefallene, or fallen soldiers, who had died there.

Until now, any German soldiers killed in Afghanistan were referred to as casualties. In addition, the word Krieg, or war, has been banned from use in any Defense Ministry public statements or speeches, say advisers to the ministry.

This change in vocabulary came at a time of public and political disquiet about Germany’s role in Afghanistan, and criticism about the funding of the German military. Hans-Christoph Ammon, the head of the German army’s commandoes, bluntly described Germany’s efforts to establish a police in Afghanistan as “a miserable failure.”