Denazification was an integral part of the Allies’ program to transform Germany from a xenophobic, aggressive, authoritarian state into a peace-loving democratic nation that would once again cooperate in, and contribute to, international life.

It was carried out by identifying and removing the leaders of the National Socialist regime from positions of power and influence and purging all elements of Nazism from public life.

There is no reset button for a society, but the denazification policies of the occupying forces of postwar Germany was one of the first attempts to do exactly that: to reset Germany and to purge Nazi influence by legal and non-legal measures.

In this episode of the “Polemical History Podcast”, Tim, Anthony & Vera discuss the various Allied practices, different levels of political incrimination, and the factors that eventually rendered it all obsolete.

The questions asked back then are still valid today: How can a society confront and come to terms with its past, develop a peaceful coexistence for all involved and establish democracy? And can all this be forced upon them or even just initiated from the outside?