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3 - “Land of the Fragebogen”

Screening the German Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2023

Mikkel Dack
Affiliation:
Rowan University, New Jersey
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Summary

Chapter 3 lifts the unevaluated Fragebogen off the desks of planners in England and delivers it to American, British, French, and Soviet soldiers operating in Germany. It chronincles the implementation of the questionnaire program, beginning in 1945; how the form was distributed, collected, and evaluated, and what role it played in the larger military occupation. Accessing army field reports, military government records, newspapers, and published and unpublished first-hand accounts, a more intimate history of denazification administration is imparted. It is shown that the questionnaire was an indispensable thorn in the side of the military occupiers, one that pained them at every turn. The Allied armies and German commissions who oversaw the program did not have the expertise, resources, or willingness to see it through to completion. Still, denazification was a hollow shell without the Fragebogen. Most of what was visibly achieved—namely, the removal of thousands of incriminated Nazis from influential employment—was due to this screening device. From the moment invasion soldiers entered Germany, no matter what flag they carried, questionnaires were essential to the occupation regimes.

Type
Chapter
Information
Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany
The Fragebogen and Political Screening during the Allied Occupation
, pp. 111 - 161
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • “Land of the Fragebogen”
  • Mikkel Dack, Rowan University, New Jersey
  • Book: Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany
  • Online publication: 23 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009216326.005
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  • “Land of the Fragebogen”
  • Mikkel Dack, Rowan University, New Jersey
  • Book: Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany
  • Online publication: 23 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009216326.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • “Land of the Fragebogen”
  • Mikkel Dack, Rowan University, New Jersey
  • Book: Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany
  • Online publication: 23 March 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009216326.005
Available formats
×