Denazification

In March 1945, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin met in Yalta. With Nazi Germany on the brink of defeat, the Allied leaders discussed the post-war reconstruction of Europe, specifically Germany's fate after the war had ended. Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union agreed that Nazism had to be banished from all areas of German society. Within months, Adolf Hitler was dead, Germany surrendered, and the seismic policy of denazification commenced.

Purpose of Denazification

During the Yalta Conference on 11 March 1945, the Allied leaders agreed that wiping out all traces of Nazism was paramount in the post-war reconstruction of Germany.

This affirmation was reiterated on 2 August 1945, when the Allied leaders met at Potsdam. During the Potsdam Conference, a declaration was made:

Importance of Denazification

One of the few post-war policies that the Allies agreed on, ridding Nazism from German society was essential in the post-war reconstruction of Germany and Europe. Long before the surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945, the Grand Alliance recognised that German society would have to be purged of Nazism and re-familiarised with democracy. While removing Nazi symbols, literature, and street signs was a fairly straightforward process, removing Nazi ideology from German society was more arduous.

Despite the difficulties involved, denazification was unquestionably essential:

• Only by removing Nazis from public office and positions of power could the Allies prevent the rise of extremism that had dominated interwar politics.

• The only way Germany could be readmitted back into the international fold was through a period of democratic re-education.

• Denazification would go some way in healing the deep wounds they had inflicted on countless groups during the Second World War.

• Denazification would help bring to justice those culpable in the Nazi crimes of the Second World War.

Marshall Plan Denazification

Before the implementation of the Marshall Plan in 1948, United States Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. proposed an entirely different plan to deal with post-war Germany. This proposal – dubbed the Morgenthau Plan – sought to cripple Germany to prevent the country from waging war in the future. While the Morgenthau Plan had some impact – notably the dismantling of German heavy industry – the proposal was ultimately not adopted.

Understanding that an economically strong Germany was integral to European recovery and seeing the German people as fundamental to the denazification process, the Allies settled on the Marshall Plan.

As well as delineating the Allies' confusion on how best to deal with post-war Germany, the Morgenthau Plan and Marshall Plan also give us insight into the USA's anxiety about the spread of communism.

If the Morgenthau Plan had been adopted in Germany, it would have inevitably propagated the spread of communism due to the resultant weak economy. It's of no surprise that 'agreement with the Soviet Union [regarding the Morgenthau Plan] was fairly readily achieved'. ²

The Difference between the Denazification of Germany and the Nuremberg Trials

Between 1945 and 1946, Nazi leaders were tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. During the 13 military tribunals, 200 members of the Nazi hierarchy were tried for war crimes.

Fig. 1 - Nuremberg Trials

While the terms often get conflated, the process of denazification was separate from the aims of Nuremberg. The Nuremberg Trials sought to punish Nazi war criminals for specific crimes. In contrast, denazification sought to cleanse German politics and society of Nazism.

Compulsory Questionnaires

In 1946, Great Britain, France, and the US introduced a questionnaire system to identify former Nazis. This questionnaire drew inspiration from the questionnaire used by the US forces in Italy in 1944.

Every adult living in an Allied occupation zone had to complete a 131-point form outlining what their occupation was in Nazi Germany. While dishonesty on the questionnaire was a punishable offence, many Nazis lied about their actions during the Third Reich and escaped sentencing.

Five Categories of Culpability

In March 1946, the Allies set out five categories of culpability:

1. Major Offenders would be arrested immediately and sentenced to death, imprisonment, or hard labour.
2. Activists, Beneficiaries, and Militarists would be sentenced to up to ten years in prison.
3. Lesser Offenders were placed on probation for up to three years.
4. Followers of the Nazi regime would be subject to restrictions on their employment, travel, and political freedoms.
5. Some individuals were exonerated and received no sanctions or imprisonment.

Fig. 2 - The sign for Adolf Hitler Street is removed

Denazification Campaigns

Let's discuss how denazification differed between Germany's four occupied zones.

The Division of Germany

Firstly, let's quickly examine the division of Germany after the Second World War.

Fig. 3 - Post War Division of Germany

As we can see from the map, Germany was divided into four zones, each controlled by one of the Allies: Great Britain, France, the USSR, and the USA. Berlin was also divided among the four Allies.

Denazification of Germany

Despite the Allies agreeing on the five categories of culpability, denazification in the four German occupation zones varied drastically.

The Soviet Union

In East Germany, the Soviet Union took advantage of denazification to forward communism in the region. Unlike in the Western zones – which honoured fair and democratic elections – the East German parliament was filled with communists loyal to Moscow.

France

The End of Denazification: Timeline

The emergence of the Cold War saw the Allies lose interest in the denazification process; initially, control of the process was delegated to the Germans before being entirely abolished in 1951. Here is a brief timeline outlining the end of denazification.