Fascism dominated Germany until May 9, 1945, when the Act on the unconditional surrender of its armed forces entered into force. After that, the process of ridding the country of the Nazi heritage began. According to the decisions of the Potsdam Conference of 1945, Germany was divided into 4 parts. Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union and France all have their areas of responsibility. Berlin, despite being under the control of the USSR, was also divided.
British approach
Each country of the anti-Hitler coalition had their own ideas about the future of Germany, as well as methods for achieving it. Britain occupied the northwestern region, and the Germans saw the British, as well as the Americans, liberators. To address the issue of denazification (determining and removing former members of the NSDAP from the civil service and senior positions), the Allied High Command Headquarters (SHAEF) created a special department that received a list of rules and regulations on the arrest or dismissal of Nazi activists, as well as questionnaires for filling out by suspects. However, British troops were reluctant to pursue SHAEF policies, preferring to remove the Nazis from power rather than conduct a full-scale purge, like the Americans. According to the British military governor General Robertson, the German administration was staffed with people who did not pose a threat to occupation.
Identification Procedures
The first act of British politics in the history of denazification is an order to the mayors to submit lists of officials indicating their party affiliation. Particularly dangerous Nazis discovered during this process interned. The rest either left or were temporarily suspended from work. The first category included members of the NSDAP, who joined its ranks until April 1933, party leaders and Gestapo employees. The second was composed of activists and staunch supporters of the regime.
Such tactics, on the one hand, retained employees who obeyed the criminal regime as a result of intimidation and did not cause harm to society, and on the other hand, allowed high-ranking Nazis to wait out the denazification process. This provided a fair assessment of the role of the Germans in Nazi Germany, but made it possible for large Nazi functionaries to lie low during the purge and maintain their influence in the region.
US Responsibility Area
Americans, mostly located in the southeast, used more sophisticated methods. They were convinced that Nazism was deeply rooted in German society, and a thorough cleaning was needed to solve this problem, followed by a liberal-democratic re-education program. A key issue was educating children in the new curriculum, since even a subject such as arithmetic was infected with racist and militaristic ideology. For this, teachers of the allied countries were involved, new textbooks were created, military training classes, as well as Nazi and militaristic literature were prohibited.
All Germans over the age of 18 should have indicated their political beliefs. According to the results of the survey, they were divided into 5 categories: rehabilitated, followers, ordinary, few and especially dangerous criminals. The questionnaire turned out to be much more complicated than expected: the Germans, assigned to the last 3 categories, not only lost jobs and property, but also some civil rights. This led to criticism of the program, as well as a growing list of appeals. To solve this problem, in March 1946, the Americans appointed the Lander government. However, it turned out to be rather ineffective due to differences in rules in different parts of the country. For example, a German in Munich (in the US zone of responsibility) could be classified as a major criminal, and in Hamburg (in the British part of the country) he could become rehabilitated. In general, this policy was unsuccessful: of the 13 million people who completed the questionnaires, 75% did not fall under the criteria for denazification. This forced the Americans to use other means.
Democratic elections
Of the zones occupied by the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, the United States was the first to hold elections in January 1946. Britain and France followed suit. Although the allies satisfied the results of the vote (the left-wing democratic parties of the CDU and SPD received the largest number of votes), the winners were not interested in a radical government policy.
In general, what was done to denazify Germany in the area of responsibility of the United States most effectively promoted democratic political activity. This is confirmed by the victory of the center-left parties. But the pursuit of an effective policy by the German government was overshadowed by difficulties caused by a serious threat from the territories controlled by the USSR.
Soviet zone
Like the British, the USSR appointed mayors adhering to anti-fascist beliefs. This ensured that the Nazis would no longer occupy leadership positions. In support of this, the Red Army organized commandant offices that monitored the activities of the executive branch. But such a policy faced the same problems that the British had: Nazi activists managed to hide in ordinary posts. To address this issue, in some regions, the Nazis, who joined the party before April 1, 1933, were dismissed by a decree of 1945. Of the members of the NSDAP, only those who entered the party leadership later quit. However, this also led to the fact that at the end of 1945 a third of the Nazi bureaucrats remained in power. This happened not only by virtue of the provisions of the decree, but also because of the desire to make maximum use of the administrative experience of former members of the NSDAP.
Hard methods began to be applied in August 1945, when an identification procedure similar to the American one was introduced. Former NSDAP members and SS officers were ordered to report to local commandant's offices for interrogation. The method yielded few results and was criticized by the Americans, who believed that the procedure was not thorough enough. In the future, a tougher line was drawn: the accused were not allowed to attract lawyers. Nevertheless, in relation to those who worked in the coal industry, at the post office or railways, the attitude was milder. A study in February 1947 showed that almost 19% of post office workers were Nazis in Saxony-Anhalt, and a third were in Dresden and Cottbus.
Tighter measures
Some representatives of the Red Army took denazification into their own hands, completely ignoring the orders of the Allied headquarters. These measures ranged from executions of Nazi officials to the granting of authority to conduct informal purges of the Communist Party of Germany (KKE). Some were forced to hard labor in a concentration camp Nigeger. In total, 11 camps were functioning, in which there were 240 thousand people. Poor treatment and harsh conditions led to the fact that a third of the prisoners died.
The Soviet military administration pursued a controversial policy. Order 124, concerning confiscation of private property, was often used for personal gain, and not to rid the region of Nazi influence. To show that most German people “supported” this policy, the USSR prepared a referendum in Saxony. After it was held in July 1946, local governments could confiscate themselves.
Soviet procedures for the denazification of Germany after 1945 are considered the most thorough, despite the transition from mild to harsh measures. However, the “Soviet broom” could not identify more members of the NSDAP than the corresponding programs of the allied forces.
French zone
The French had a more informal approach to the denazification of Germany compared to the other three forces. They did not believe in questionnaires, since the verdict should be imposed on people, not facts. The French believed that the education sector needed the most attention, since it does not concern the past, but the future of the country.
A number of factors contributed to this approach. Firstly, the area of responsibility of France established at the Potsdam Conference of 1945 included small regions in the southwest. Secondly, they did not submit to other allied forces, which made it possible to test various approaches to denazification. The third and most important factor was that France occupied the traditional center of German liberalism.
Early denazification methods are arrests. At the end of 1945, 12,500 suspects were detained, and another 800 were under surveillance. Arrests were based on one’s sole discretion, not SHAEF’s policies. Although the French also conducted surveys at the end of 1945, their method of categorization was different. The questionnaires were compared with the recovered documents and the chronicle to determine what part the suspect took in Nazi events.
Cultural policy
Education was the main means of eliminating Nazi influence in the region. This method was known as "cultural policy." In the summer of 1945, 75% of teachers were removed from work. However, due to an acute shortage of teaching staff, 39% had to be restored. The French also turned to retired teachers who did not support the criminal regime. Pedagogical colleges were created to help prepare new cadres, although some officials were worried that they had been brought up in a National Socialist spirit.
Denazification of universities was an easier task - only 39% of teachers were fired. Universities reopened by the fall of 1945. By mid-1946, 166 French lecturers and professors worked in them.
Conclusion
Although the removal of former NSDAP members from leadership positions contributed to denazification, this was not a decisive factor. For example, the growth of the 1950s economy (often referred to as the “economic miracle”) fostered a culture of consumption. As a result of this, the Germans gained a pan-European identity. In addition, in 1968 there was an uprising of students protesting against the adoption of a law that limited the rights of people in extreme circumstances. This demonstrated that the Germans themselves, unlike the authorities, oppose the adoption of Nazi-type legislation.