Banishing the past : an American perspective of 'Renazification' in Occupied Germany, 1945-1949
Date
1996
Authors
Argyle, Gordon Steven
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Abstract
When reviewing the existing literature regarding the occupation of Germany after World War II, one word consistently appears-denazification. The Americans were very committed to denazifying their zone in Germany. Whether it was media, films, the military, economics, government or the schools, the Americans aimed to denazify all aspects of German life. The Americans attempted to change a culture.
It also became clear that most historians felt the program was ill-conceived and a failure. A small group•'believed the program should never have been attempted and a few felt that the program was not prosecuted with sufficient vigour.
Because re-education at the German universities had been almost entirely ignored by historians-and German resistance to foreign occupation and re-education even more so-I chose to study the attempt to re-educate the Germans at the universities, taking into account the complications that denazification created. The thesis explains how the German people reacted to this alteration of their institutions. What was found was that many aspects of the occupation had received little discussion or research. The documents collected from the U.S. National Archives provided a great deal of information. When this fresh material was considered in conjunction with insights from the diary of the most respected education officer, Edward Hartshorne, and a comparison of university faculty lists after the occupation, it became clear that denazification had failed and a 'renazification' had taken place. As well, there was evidence of a growing resistance to the American occupation and its programs.
When the entire story is considered, it was found that most historians, for whatever reasons, h,ad failed to take note of a large body of relevant material. Historians had viewed 'reorientation' as the alteration to re-education that spelled success for American policy in West Germany. I found quite the opposite, that there was no re-education or denazification success. The evidence established that 'renazification' had occurred at the universities and that conservative, nationalistic and Nazi trends were prevalent at such institutions, often being supported by sinister groups. I concluded that denazification should have been more aggressively applied. Based on such a conclusion it seems that the extra costs and troubles to run a successful denazification program would have been warranted, and that the resources were available. At the very least, this work provides a launching pad for further study. The repercussions of 'renazification' for West Germany is only briefly discussed in this study (or in any other).
However, if this hypothesis is accepted, the history of the Federal Republic of West Germany may need amending. Those who have warned that West Germany was not decentralized, nor decarteliz.ed, nor denazified ( especially at the universities) will now have a firmer foundation to stand on.