Incidents at a school in the eastern German state of Brandenburg have given rise to fears over far-right sentiment in the classroom. Officials have expressed dismay, encouraging teachers not to shrink from hate.
Incidents at a school in the eastern German state of Brandenburg have given rise to fears over far-right sentiment in the classroom. Officials have expressed dismay, encouraging teachers not to shrink from hate.
That’s absolutely not true. My father who is now in his 60s still had (Alt)nazi teachers in west Germany. West Germany mostly skipped denazification as it was not politically wanted. Some nazis at the top were prosecuted, sure, but most every day nsdap party officials never had any problems, kept their positions as judges, teachers, doctors and so on. Saying that west Germany was de-nazified is wrong. From what I know, denazification in the east was much more thorough, which makes sense ideologically. Why would the Soviets tolerate Nazis? No way. I think the bigger problem was that the allied nations needed a military partner against the UDSSR quickly, which meant that most Nazis just kept their position.
The official denazification ended in both parts of Germany before 1950. All the Nazis were needed. It was not talked about what individuals had done before 45.
In the GDR it was by definition that all the Nazis had gone to the FRG. Prosecution came to a standstill. Nothing like the Zentralstelle in Ludwigsburg existed.
The silence about the time ended in the FRG with the Auschwitz trials in Frankfurt and the student movement from the mid 60ies onwards. Willy Brandt on his knees in Warsaw kicked off some hearty discussions. Later there was the Holocaust TV series with a heavy impact.
And this is the real denazification of the population. The discourse about personal responsibility for historical events changed the society. I had such Nazi teachers in the 70ies, but they got challenged by younger teachers and older pupils. My music teacher went into early retirement after he was challenged for his current and past behaviour.
This has reached about 2/3 of the population in the west. The rest is still authoritarian and votes for AFD and CDU. In the east authoritarianism is still wide spread, because challenging authority was not a good idea under SED rule. And after the Wende it was all sugar coated by Kohl.
The problem will sadly grow, I fear. Because people who are not happy with the political climate can move away. And they do it, just got a new neighbour from Chemnitz.