de-Nazification

Question 1

what was the aim of De-Nazification policies?

Answer 1

produce a changed German culture
changed political outlook

remove the radical changes the Nazis made to German identity

Question 2

when was the first Nuremberg Trial?

Answer 2

18 October 1945

Question 3

how many senior Nazis were sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials?

Answer 3

12 of the 22 defendants

Question 4

what happened to the Fuhrer myth after the Nuremberg Trials?

Answer 4

the German people understood that Hitler was to blame for Germany’s actions in WW2 and the Holocaust

Question 5

what was the idea of Stunde Null?

Answer 5

Germans believed that they could get on with rebuilding their lives because the senior Nazis were all dealt with

a new hour for Germany

Question 6

how many were arrested because of De-Nazification by 1946?

Answer 6

250,000

Question 7

what was used by the zones to identify who was a Nazi?

Answer 7

a questionnaire

Question 8

who used the questionnaire?

Answer 8

Britain
France
USA

not the Soviets

Question 9

what were the US’s plans with De-Nazification?

Answer 9

anyone who was a Nazi Party member before 1937 were immediately dismissed from civil service roles

Question 10

how many Nazis did the US exonerate?

Answer 10

1.9%

Question 11

what was Britain’s plan with De-Nazification?

Answer 11

Britain understood that they needed many Nazis to remain in order for government to work

they did not remove Nazi Party members from administrative roles

Question 12

how many Nazis did Britain exonerate?

Answer 12

58.4%

Question 13

what did France decide to focus on instead of De-Nazification?

Answer 13

De-Militarisation

Question 14

how did the Soviets go about De-Nazification?

Answer 14

they were the most harsh
they wanted to prevent any resurgence of capitalism and were not too concerned about justice
instead they wanted to remove any threat to the Soviet system

Question 15

how was De-Militarisation carried out?

Answer 15

both sides agreed to NO armed forces and NO manufacturing of arms

Question 16

when were Nazi schoolbooks, films and slides on Nazi racial theory banned?

Answer 16

May 1946

Question 17

how were Nazi sympathisers in schools and universities removed?

Answer 17

all staff were vetted

Question 18

what were the German reactions to de-Nazification?

Answer 18

resigned acceptance
indignation
avoidance
cynicism
desire to move on

Question 19

resigned acceptance

Answer 19

Germans realised that they had lost the war and that de-Nazification was necessary to remove Nazi ideology

Question 20

indignation

Answer 20

many German saw the allies in the same light as the Nazis:
- both were using censorship in both the press and education
- both had committed war crimes which both were responsible for:
- USA with Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Britain with the bombing of Dresden
- USSR with it’s violent occupation in Berlin

Question 21

avoidance

Answer 21

those who had supported the Nazis wanted to avoid examining the roles of Nazis

Question 22

cynicism

Answer 22

many Germans saw how ex-Nazis were being rehabilitated in the USA for useful reasons

scientists and doctors avoided prosecution

Question 23

how many ex-Nazi scientists and doctors moved to the USA?

Answer 23

1,600

Werner von Braun (the man who buil the V2)

Question 24

concl on de-Nazification

Answer 24

almost TOO successful

many Germans questioned what it mean to be German as many would later feel ashamed for their roles in the Nazi regime

YET
many ex-Nazis were able to carry on with their lives without punishment
most institutions kept ex-Nazis in high positions

most Germans just wanted to move on