Following WWII, during the occupation of Germany, the zones...¶

Following WWII, during the occupation of Germany, the zones administered by France, the UK, and the US were run by former members of the Nazi party. Throughout much of the existence of West Germany, former "low-level Nazis" achieved ranks as high as president and chancellor (1/7) https://t.co/Lz6aPT3EoU The party itself had been disbanded of course, but the thousands of officials and bureaucrats that had staffed it remained the only people with "governing experience" for decades. In the west, only the highest ranking members were prosecuted for their crimes (2/7) Nazis in the west were folded en masse into new "liberal parties," and formed the political bedrock of West German governance. This remained the status quo until those Nazis died or retired, well into the 70s and dipping into the 80s. (3/7) The political apparatus of West Germany was built under the "governing expertise" of those "reformed" Nazis who were deemed to have been "just following orders." There is a direct throughline from the Nazi party into every mainstream party in the west. (4/7) This stands in stark contrast to the east, were denazification was pursued earnestly, for decades. East Germany was run by many of the former victims of the Nazis, including thousands of Jews over the decades. In the west, this denazification was decried as brutality (5/7) East Germany demonstrated that no, you do not need to rely on the "expertise" of Nazis, just because Nazis had spent decades expunging all other ideologies from access to governance. The functions of the state were fulfilled quite competently by the liberated populace. (6/7) German "reunification" was, in a very real sense, the political takeover by this Nazi-descended apparatus of the formerly denazified east. Germany today carries forward its fascist lineage, with the full backing of the west that funded its rebuilding. (7/7)