Research on de-nazification in Austria

Dieter Stiefel
Achievements, shortcomings, perspectives

The introduction gives a short overview of literature on the history of de-nazification in Austria. It demands that de-nazification be seen as a process, and seeks to explain its structures and development: why de-nazification occurred in just this way and no other. Despite its logical structure, contradictions and conflicts are a fundamental characteristic of the process of de-nazification. This ambivalence of logic and contradiction should not be forgotten in studying individual cases.