De-nazification in regional comparison: an attempted appraisal

Walter Schuster - Wolfgang Weber

In Austria, federal laws were created to deal with cleansing society of erstwhile National Socialists, while in those German states included in this publication (Baden, Bavarian and Württemberg-Hohenzollern) the states and the French and US occupying forces passed relevant legislation. In inter-regional comparison it becomes apparent that there were regional differences in the course of de-nazification even when, as in Austria, it was underpinned by the same national legislation. These differences can be traced back to the party political balances of power in the respective states. After the amnesty which came into power in 1948, especially, inter-regional co-operation occurred when the purpose was to facilitate atonement for erstwhile National Socialists. This development was similar in southern Germany.

The four allied occupying powers clearly differentiated between Germany and Austria in their policies of de-nazification. While the Soviet Union used de-nazification in its German occupation zone as a means for social-revolutionary societal change, in its Austrian occupation zone it reduced its role to that of a mediator. France practised a style of de-nazification in southern Germany akin to auto-épuration in its own country, and in Austria worked directly with the civil administration. The Anglo-American occupiers on the other hand pursued a creed of exchanging elites in both Germany and Austria, which failed in implementation, however.

In southern Germany as in Austria, de-nazification was the most comprehensive legal action in the countries' histories. Due to the massive registration of hundreds of thousands of National Socialists it was possible, in time, to name both the elites and the bulk of party members of the Nazi organisations. In this respect, de-nazification in southern Germany and Austria was a success.

But the implementation of the social-revolutionary policy the Allies were working towards – an exchange of elites – was prevented by the professional qualification and high social status which Nazi elites, especially, occupied in society before and after the war. The erstwhile National Socialists in public administration, the liberal professions, in trade and industry or in the private sector had professional know-how which the newly democratic societies in Germany and Austria desperately needed in order to re-build at least their administrations and economies after 1945. In this respect, de-nazification in southern Germany and Austria was a failure.