Denazification: Difference between revisions

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(Created page with "The term Denazification refers to the active removal and erasure of all aspects on National Socialism from the German Empire. It included many severe physical modifications of buildings, changes in currency, re-drawing of borders, removal of symbols and traditions. The victor writes the history. Denazification is a term bandied about today in the Russian Ukrainian conflict. ")
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"'''Denazification'''" (sometimes reffered to as ''DeGermanification''; {{lang-de|Entnazifizierung}}) was a "controversial" Allied post-[[WWII]] policy<ref>Balfour, Michael, & Mair, John, ''Four-Power Control in Germany and Austria 1945-46'', Oxford University Press, 1956, p.169.</ref> of removing from German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics any remnants of [[National Socialism]]. It was said that the Party alone had some eight million members.<ref>Balfour & Mair, 1956, p.171.</ref>
The term Denazification refers to the active removal and erasure of all aspects on National Socialism from the German Empire. It included many severe physical modifications of buildings, changes in currency, re-drawing of borders, removal of symbols and traditions. The victor writes the history. Denazification is a term bandied about today in the Russian Ukrainian conflict.
 
==History==
In his [[anti-German]] address to the [[USA]] Congress on 1 March 1945, [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] stated: "unconditional surrender means the end of Nazism (''sic'') and of the Nazi (''sic'') Party and of all its barbaric laws and institutions. It means the termination of all influence in the public, private, and cultural life of Germany".<ref>''Documents on American Foreign Relations, 1944-1945'', p.22.</ref>
 
As one part of this policy, the Allies removed from positions of power and influence those who had been [[NSDAP]] members or otherwise associated with the NSDAP. To solve the problem of identifying National Socialists, the Allies devised the personal questionnaire, or ''Fragebogen'', which was subsequently ridiculed in Ernst von Salomon's famous 1951 book ''The Answers''.<ref>''The Answers'' to the 131 questions in the Allied Military Government's Questionnaire, by Ernst von Salomon, published in Germany in 1951 as ''Der Fragebogen'' and the English-language edition in London in 1954.</ref> Not counting Prisoners-of-War, the Allies interned huge numbers of people who had failed their ridiculous and overtly political "tests". 66,500 people had been interned in the American Occupation Zone by September 1945 and 70,000 in the British Zone by the end of that year. During the late summer of 1946 the situation attracted considerable attention in Britain, critics fastening on the disregard of the principle 'no imprisonment without trial'. (This did not, it seems, bother the Americans.) A further 156,000 persons were removed from office in the British Zone between May 1945 and September 1946, and a further 86,000 persons who applied for employment of a prohibited character had their applications refused.<ref>Balfour & Mair, 1956, p.174 & 179.</ref>
 
In addition, on 1 June 1946 the three Minister-Presidents in the American Zone made a special 'Minister for Political Education' in each ''Länder'' responsible for all de-Nazification proceedings, other than appointments to posts in the Government and in agencies that directly influenced public opinion, such as press and radio (where the Americans themselves decided). The British Zone responsibility was not handed over to the ''Länder'' Governments until 1 October 1947.<ref>Balfour & Mair, 1956, p.177-8.</ref>
 
The emergence of the [[Cold War]] and the need for a German ally led the Western powers to lose some interest in the policy, which affected large parts of the population and was hugely unpopular.  Gradually the entire business became so bureaucratic, employing 545 tribunals with a staff of 22,000, that it was ended on 1 January 1949.<ref>Balfour & Mair, 1956, p.177.</ref>
 
In 1951, the provisional West German government granted amnesties to lesser alleged offenders and suspects and officially ended this part of the policy. This was too late for many who had been required to join the party to keep their positions. Unable to work and maintain their families, due to Allied policies, a great many committed suicide.<ref>Huber, Florian, ''Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself - The Downfall of Ordinary Germans, 1945'', English-language edition, London, 2019, ISBN 978-0-241-39924-8</ref>
 
Many other aspects continued, with [[National Socialism]], National Socialist organizations, and virtually anything associated with it (such as the [[swastika]]) being outlawed.
 
===Categories===
On 1 April 1946, a special law established 545 civilian tribunals under German administration (German: ''Spruchkammern''), with a staff of 22,000 of mostly lay judges. They had a case load of 900,000. Many people had to fill in a new background form, called a ''Meldebogen'' (replacing the widely disliked ''Fragebogen''), and were given over to justice under one of the ''Spruchkammern'', which assigned them to one of five categories:
 
*    V. Persons Exonerated (German: ''Entlastete''). No sanctions.
*    IV. Followers (German: ''Mitläufer''). Possible restrictions on travel, employment, political rights, plus fines.
*    III. Lesser Offenders (German: ''Minderbelastete''). Placed on probation for 2–3 years with a list of restrictions. No internment.
*    II. Offenders: Activists, Militants, and Profiteers, or Incriminated Persons (German: ''Belastete''). Subject to immediate arrest and imprisonment up to ten years performing reparation or reconstruction work plus a list of other restrictions.
*    I. Major Offenders (German: ''Hauptschuldige''). Subject to immediate arrest, death, imprisonment with or without hard labor, plus a list of lesser sanctions.
 
Because the caseload was impossibly large, the German tribunals began to look for ways to speed up the process. Unless their crimes were serious, members of the [[NSDAP]] born after 1919 were exempted on the grounds that they had been ''brainwashed'' or indirectly forced to join the party to gain social recognition. Disabled veterans were also exempted.
 
==See also==
*[[Book burning/censorship and National Socialist Germany]] - On the Allied book censorship/destruction in postwar Germany.
*''[[Germany Must Perish!]]''
*[[Holocaust awareness]]
*[[Morgenthau Plan]]
*[[Antideutsche]]
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:National Socialism]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:European history]]
[[Category:Ideology]]
[[Category:Anti-German]]
 
 
[[de:Entnazifizierung]]

Revision as of 19:08, 16 March 2023

The term Denazification refers to the active removal and erasure of all aspects on National Socialism from the German Empire. It included many severe physical modifications of buildings, changes in currency, re-drawing of borders, removal of symbols and traditions. The victor writes the history. Denazification is a term bandied about today in the Russian Ukrainian conflict.

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