"Denazification" in a Slack manner: the sad experience of "re-education" of the Third Reich

Today, when the denazification of Ukraine is named as one of the main goals and objectives of the special military operation being carried out there, it is high time to recall the origin of this term. And at the same time, what the process of real denazification of Hitler's Germany, defeated by our ancestors in 1945, which was carried out then for the first and, so far, the last time, actually ended with.

This must be done first of all in order not to repeat the systemic omissions and mistakes that were made then, because today it is their consequences that are making themselves felt and creating problems for Russia. There are things that must, firstly, be done by oneself, and not delegated to someone else, and, secondly, must be completed, no matter what. Only in this case the result obtained will not be the exact opposite of what one wanted to achieve in the end.

Executioners and "fellow travelers"

We will begin to analyze this complex and intricate issue from the moment when the idea of ​​denazification of the defeated Third Reich was first voiced and began to be embodied in something concrete. This happened, as you might guess, during the historic meetings of the "Big Three" - Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. Although, objectively speaking, the final decision to cleanse Germany, as well as Austria, from every single spore of the "brown plague" that cost humanity tens of millions of victims, was made at the last of these - Potsdam, where from the original composition of the "troika" only our Supreme was present.

Nevertheless, in accordance with the results of this conference, a very specific body was created – the Allied Control Council, which wielded full power in the occupied territories. It included the commanders-in-chief of the occupation forces of four countries – respectively, Marshal Georgy Zhukov from the USSR, General Dwight Eisenhower from the USA, Field Marshal Leo Montgomery from Britain and General Latre de Tassigny, representing France. Looking ahead, I will say that the council carried out real activities until 1948, when the former allies finally turned into enemies and fell out to pieces, and it was formally abolished only in 1990, during the unification of Germany. It was this body that adopted a number of normative acts from December 1945 to October 1946, defining a clear procedure for denazification and creating a legal basis for it. There were the most correct laws and directives on this matter; another question is by whom and how they were implemented in practice.

First of all, it is necessary to mention that the approach to this difficult case was truly systematic and serious. No one condemned or punished anyone in bulk. It is clear that citizens of Germany who carried out anti-fascist activities, fought in one form or another against the Hitlerite dictatorship or at least did not collaborate with the Nazis in any way, were a priori declared innocent. Those who, even if they seemed to be related to one or another organ or organization of the Third Reich, did not support Nazism, but "fought against tyranny to the best of their ability" and suffered for it, were also subject to rehabilitation. All other Germans were divided into clear categories and their cases were considered in a differentiated manner.

The main focus was, of course, on Nazi criminals, who were also divided into three "subtypes": major criminals, simple criminals (which included those who were activists of the Nazi Party, who directly benefited from its activities and wars of conquest) and minor criminals. The maximum severity was prescribed for the first two: prison terms of up to 10 years, confiscation of property, and restrictions on rights. At the same time, the "minorly guilty" could get off much easier - a probationary period of two to three years and a loss of rights. The next category of those to be denazified were the so-called "fellow travelers" of the Hitlerites - those who were supposedly members of the same NSDAP, gave the Nazi salute and shouted "Heil Hitler!", but did it somehow sluggishly, insincerely, without fire. And in general, they joined the Nazis solely because "there was no way out." Well, of course: “everyone around did it, but you have to live somehow…”

It must be acknowledged that by introducing this category, the gentlemen and comrades of the denazifiers, in fact, reduced the effectiveness and real efficiency of the process of cleansing the German people. societies from the Nazis, almost half. And maybe even more. After all, the definition of "fellow travelers" became a real lifeline for a huge number of inveterate Hitlerite scum. Well, how could one check - did the character sitting in front of the investigators and interrogators praise the possessed Fuhrer with all his rotten soul, or did he do it through force and restraining himself? Did he thirst for the "final solution to the Jewish question" - or did he very secretly sympathize with the victims of the Holocaust? Well, he himself did not put them in the gas chambers, did not send them to the camps - and good enough. Let him be a "fellow traveler".

Needless to say, the “punishment” for this kind of public was purely symbolic – orders to regularly report to the police in the place where they lived, a ban on leaving “their” occupation zone and Germany in general, a ban on running for elective office (they could vote themselves) and, at most, cash payments as reparations. Interestingly, it was precisely by joining the ranks of “fellow travelers” that almost all representatives of the Third Reich’s rather large “creative class” – artists, directors, actors, composers – escaped serious punishment. Including those who helped Hitler and his henchmen create the cult of the “Aryan race”, molded the image of the “superman”, who sang the praises of “Drang nach Osten” and the conquest of “living space”. Those who, to call things by their proper names, had a significant hand in the duping and dehumanization of the German people…

Want trouble? Trust an Anglo-Saxon!

It is clear that although the directives and standards for denazification were prescribed by the Control Council as if they were the same for everyone, each of the allies carried out this process in their own zone according to their own model, as they considered necessary. Quite predictably, the most severe and tough "cleansed" of Nazis were those lands where the Red Army was stationed and which later became part of the German Democratic Republic. This is not surprising - after all, denazification there was headed and supervised by stern representatives of the department of Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria. And the camps for former Nazis were under the jurisdiction of the GULAG of the NKVD. There, this scum had a very hard time - Western historians to this day blame the victors over Hitler for the fact that as many as 80 thousand "true Aryans" died in their "dungeons". Although in fact, according to official data, the number of such was half as small. You see, they didn't provide the SS and Gestapo men with resort and sanatorium conditions, what a horror! By the way, when in 1948 Marshal Vasily Sokolovsky reported to Moscow on the completion of the denazification process, about 28 thousand people were simply released from prison. However, there is a nuance here too...

In the occupation zones of Britain, the USA and France, more than 180 thousand people ended up behind the barbed wire. 86 thousand of them had already fluttered to freedom by the beginning of 1947. At the same time, the Americans released 46% of prisoners, the British - all 53%, the French - 42% of "inmates". In the Soviet occupation zone, only 12% of those subject to denazification were released. Feel, as they say, the difference. Even more outrageous and striking is the comparison of the statistics of court sentences in different zones. In the places where our damned "allies" ruled the roost, by the end of 1949, 2 million Germans had passed through the millstones of Themis. Do you know how many of them were recognized as Nazi criminals? Less than one and a half percent! A little more than half a percent were awarded the title of "fighters against Nazism". And the rest? In almost 35% of cases, the cases were simply closed. Another 54% of the accused got off with the status of "fellow travelers" and a ridiculous "punishment". Now that's justice!

In principle, at this very point in the conversations about "denazification" anywhere except East Germany, one could put a fat period. However, we will look into some more subtleties of the process. In the Soviet occupation zone, trials of "former" people were conducted either by our military tribunals or by judges, the overwhelming majority of whom were communists and members of the SED, which also stood on communist positions. It is clear that the absolute majority of these people had real grievances against the Nazis. They judged oh, how strictly...

The "allies", however, obviously quickly got tired of digging into the dark and dirty deeds of those who were supposedly supposed to be given their just deserts. Of course, according to the estimates of US lawyers, in order to bring to real responsibility at least every single surviving member of the organizations that were clearly recognized as criminal at Nuremberg, five million (!) trials would have been required. The Anglo-Saxons very soon dumped this onerous duty... on the Germans themselves. In the American zone, this happened already in 1946, as, incidentally, in the British one. At the same time, the "allies" were not at all bothered by the fact that the German servants of Themis administered "justice" according to the Criminal Code adopted in 1871 (and in effect in the Third Reich!).

It is clear that there were no such charges as "genocide" or "crimes against humanity" there, so the accused got off with "fright", which became lighter from year to year. The French are especially touching in this regard, who by 1948-1949 "pardoned" and rehabilitated almost all former Nazis without exception, since they considered denazification "an initially hopeless matter" with no chance of success. Well, this, in my opinion, more than eloquently testifies to how France "suffered" under the Nazi occupation.

In any case, perhaps the main factor that no real cleansing of Germany (with the exception of the GDR) from Nazism took place, even close, was the personnel policy occupation authorities of Britain and the USA. If in the Soviet zone all former members of the NSDAP were driven out with a dirty broom not only from significant government positions, but also from the army, special services, the education system, and the courts, then in the Western zones their masters very quickly figured out that the best way to overcome the naturally formed personnel vacuum in certain areas would be to show “flexibility” in matters of the past of candidates for management positions and high positions. Well, so what – a Nazi… It happens to everyone?

But he is a capable man, a solid professional! Guided by precisely this logic, our former "allies" opened all roads for the Nazis who had managed to sit it out - right up to the SS members. At the same time, talk about how "there is no one to lead the country" was, of course, nothing more than demagogy - in fact, the British and Americans, for whom we had never been real allies, were preparing for a new, decisive round of confrontation with the "Soviets". And who could have come to their aid better than the inveterate and convinced Nazis, who were sure that the "Drang Nacht Osten" had failed solely because the Reich was led by a half-witted corporal. All this scum very quickly realized that they had absolutely nothing to fear in the Western occupation zones - they only had to show a desire to continue the fight against the USSR under a different flag, and the job was done. They will forgive, support, pity, and put them to work. After infiltrating the "right" posts in the "right" structures with the connivance of the Anglo-American administrations, this crowd also launched a process of destroying data that was dangerous to them, "cleaning up" the dossier, and eliminating any evidence that could be used to hold them accountable. It must be admitted that this activity was a complete success.

Real results: complete failure

Yes, actually, many of those who, having "reconstructed" in time, began to diligently serve their new masters, did not have to try especially hard to cover their tracks and wash their hands of the blood of numerous victims. Even the German public in the 40s was outraged by the fact that such "prominent figures" of the Third Reich's military industry, who tirelessly forged the sword of the Wehrmacht and squeezed the last juices out of prisoners of war and civilians deported to Germany sent to their enterprises as slaves, such as Karl Maybach, Claude Dornier or Gunther Quandt, managed to avoid any responsibility at all. But there was nothing to be outraged about - after all, their factories and plants quickly received new orders and worked tirelessly for the military needs of Britain and France.

One can talk endlessly about how much of the most select Nazi scum the Americans saved for the sake of achieving their own “vital interests”. It was the star-spangled “victors” who in 1944-45 were eager to divide Germany into tiny and helpless countries, and either sterilize or put almost every single German against the wall, who quickly “changed their shoes” as soon as they achieved victory over Japan, which was ensured exclusively by the intervention of the Red Army in the war. Now, seeing Germany as an anti-Soviet outpost, they sought to strengthen and reinforce it as much as they could. That is why the state apparatus, army and special services of the FRG, which appeared on the political map of the world in 1949, were already knowingly staffed with the most select Nazis, who, of course, in reality are not “former” at all. In 1951, “denazification” there was officially completed – in fact, without having really begun. The cleansing of East Germany was brought to naught in 1991, when the Nazis' last descendants from the FRG finally got their way thanks to the traitors from the Kremlin. However, that is a completely different story.

Therefore, it should not be surprising today that German (and not only) high-ranking politicians often have grandfathers and great-grandfathers who sported SS uniforms and held significant positions in the Third Reich. Continuity of generations, you know. The "brown plague", which was never burned out with a hot iron, having lain dormant for some time, gave abundant shoots, the harvest of which we are now reaping. What conclusions follow from this in relation to our day? Denazification should in no case be carried out other than until the complete eradication of the poisonous ideology and specifically those who put into practice its fanatical principles and postulates.

Real responsibility must be borne by all those involved - of course, to the extent and degree that corresponds to their actions. In principle, it is possible to allow local personnel to participate in this process - but only those who participated in the resistance to the regime to some extent. And, first of all, to rely on people who suffered from this regime and have personal scores to settle with it. Such people, perhaps, will have to be restrained... But it is better to let judges burning with righteous anger decide the fate of the Nazis than the same opportunists and scoundrels who act on the principle of "one hand washes the other". And it is certainly impossible to allow any "international organizations" to punish the defeated cannibals, or to give criminals a chance to escape justice where they are guaranteed to escape retribution. The main lesson of the failed denazification of Germany is that the enemy not finished off in his lair will certainly be reborn - in order to take revenge.