Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany: The Fragebogen and Political Screening during the Allied Occupation

by Mikkel Dack

In the wake of World War II, the victorious Allied armies implemented a radical program to purge Nazism from Germany and preserve peace in Europe. Between 1945 and 1949, 20 million political questionnaires, or Fragebögen, were distributed by American, British, French, and Soviet armies to anxious Germans who had to prove their non-Nazi status to gain employment. Drafted by university professors and social scientists, these surveys defined much of the denazification experience and were immensely consequential to the material and emotional recovery of Germans. In Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany, Mikkel Dack draws the curtain to reveal what denazification looked like on the ground and in practice and how the highly criticized vetting program impacted the lives of individual Germans and their families as they recovered from the war. Accessing recently declassified documents, this book challenges traditional interpretations by illustrating the positive elements of the denazification campaign and recounting a more comprehensive history, one of mid-level Allied planners, civil affairs soldiers, and regular German citizens. The Fragebogen functions as a window into this everyday history.

311 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Sarah Leask · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dack masters the task of merging the personal and the political in order to make the material more 3 dimensional. His commitment to driving home the complexity of Denazification not just from a logistical standpoint but the lived experience of german citizens is clear throughout this book. Through first person accounts and ongoing political context, he translates both the key statistics that can be pulled from the various iterations if the Fragebögen, as well as its overall effectiveness. He offers a refreshed lens regarding what we can consider "successful" in the complex task of removing nazi ideologies both from public and private life.

As a casual reader of historical non-fiction, I found it incredibly approachable yet informative. Highly recommend this book and look forward to more from the author!