De-nazification in Tyrol

Wilfried Beimrohr

In Tyrol the process of de-nazification had two distinctive features. The province experienced a change in the occupying force in July 1945. France succeeded the USA. Though only weakly established before March 1938, the Nazi party in Tyrol enjoyed an enormous wave of support. Gauleiter Franz Hofer's open-arms policy made Tyrol the province with the greatest density of Nazi party members. The high rate of erstwhile members was therefore a fundamental problem after the war, rearing its head in politically sensitive areas of public policy such as schools, justice, administration and policing.