Did any ex-Nazi's hold government positions in postwar Germany?

Question

I am writing an essay on the representation of the national past in European cinema (Germany and France) I am comparing and contrasting the two. I am finding postwar German politics slightly confusing, but am getting the hang of it slowly, I have a lot of information to take in. So any help with this would be very much appreciated thanks.

I know that many businesses still had ex-nazi's running them.Also that cinema was relient on Goebbels filmakers, scriptwriters and actors for a long time after the war (right up till the 60s) which affected how cinema was made and recieved, along with the occuping forces and an influx of American film.

Answer 1

The answer is yes. Many Ex-Nazis held post not just in West Germany, but also worked with other Western Govenrments. Here is the list of them at Wikipedia. I do not know if this is the complete list, but it is substantial. I do not know how many Ex-Nazis worked for East Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-Nazis#Prominent_ex-NSDAP_Members

Answer 2

While none of the major Nazi leaders survived the war or the Nuremburg Trials, lesser nazi bureaucrats such as technocrats and those bureaucrats in the Nazi legal system, did go on to serve in Post-War positions in West Germany.

With the end of the war, the Allied forces were quick to realise that Joseph Stalin would not be content with mere communist domination in the East. The Allied political leaders were quick to see a defeated and humbled Germany as a bulwark against communism in Europe.

To this end, the Allies recruited technicians who had worked on Germany's V2 rocket missile program such as those at Dora and Pennemunde. These same technicians should have been arrested and tried for complicity to murder and crimes against humanity for the use of slave labour.

The allies were also quick to realise that a denazified and democratically rebuilt Germany would also help prevent communism in Europe. To this end, the allies hastily arranged the rebuilding of German political institutions such as Justice. Many ex-Nazi judges, justice officials, police officers that had been complicit in crimes against humanity, were quickly employed without their backgrounds being investigated.

The demands of Cold War politics overtook Justice.

Answer 3

Von Manstein:

In 1949 he was brought on trial in Hamburg for war crimes, which convicted him of "Neglecting to protect civilian lives" and for using scorched earth tactics denying vital food supplies to the local population. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, which was later reduced to 12. Although claiming to not know about the Holocaust, von Manstein nevertheless showed a callous disregard for the plights of Jews, equating Partisans and Jews and advocated stern measures against both groups. After release from British prison in 1953, he became a military advisor for the West German Government.



Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/erich_von_m...

Answer 4

Yes, since membership of the Nazi party was pretty much compulsory for advancment in the civil service. It's a bit like Iraq, many of the Generals and civil servants were members of the B'aath party. The problem is, who do you replace them with?

Answer 5

I'm not sure at the national level but many municipal positions were held by nazi's because no one else knew how to do them or were fed up with government altogether. There were several mayors for sure.

Answer 6

The Allies were so complacent at the end of the war that the scum who ran Germany were left to continue doing so with a few notable exceptions, who were charged with war crimes.