I have always been interested in the history of the Second World War and before but one thing I don’t find too many comprehensible articles or documentaries to explore is the issue of Denazification and the impact it had on modern Germany and Austria.
I know the allies had movie screenings showing the horrors of the third Reich and bringing a lot of people to court but I want to know a lot more about the impact it had on the society as a whole. For instance, how come (western) Germany is more friendly toward immigrants than let’s say the eastern part or Austria ( sorry for any individuals offended, just a personal observation). I know the allies didn’t go as far with their Denazification efforts in Austria and of course the eastern part was under Soviet control.
But what methods were used to make sure the horrible crimes were never repeated again? Movies showing the horrible crimes alone can’t be the answer? For example, Germany took in a lot of refugees in 2015 (and in the 90s) citing the horrors of their own people during the war. They still seem very liberal in admitting people from all over the world even though of a couple of crimes related to refugees which advances the far right but more so in the eastern part (where again) the Soviet’s were in control.
Nowadays, it seems the country is completely different in a couple of areas, more liberal in constitutional rights and extremely friendly towards immigrants with social benefits. The constitution was adopted in 1949, years after the war. I know a lot of people were scared of Hitler, but also a lot of people supported him and were talking about two generations ago, many of the children indoctrinated in school during the 30s and early 40s are have shaped the current German, liberal society. So I’m really interested if any of this is due to the effects of Denazification and what methods were used to accomplish this. Thanks!
Unfortunately i can not answer your entire question, however i am trying to point out the most important reasons why more West German people are immigrant friendly than East German people.
However firstly i would like to point out that in both parts there are immigrant friendly people and in both parts of Germany there are immigrant unfriendly or even racist people.
Regarding Denazification:
In former West Germany "Bundesrepublik Deutschland" or BRD all leading people in the NSDAP and many Gestappo (Third Reich Police) members were imprisioned for their actions comitted. In East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik = DDR) the same happened to NSDAP high ranked members. Many of the Gestappo police men however, were directly used in the Stasi (Staatssichterheit) the East German police force to spy on the people and potential capitalists or system critics.
This resulted in many high ranked people in the DDR never confronted with the war crimes the did. For more details I hope someone else will respond to your question because i do not think i am able to go into enough detail here.
Immmigrants in history:
West Germany had a large growing economy. Many Germans were still prisioners of war or were killed during the war. This led to many Turkish or Italian people came to Germany starting in the 1950s to get a job and to become a part of German society. Up to this date there are much more Immigrants in West Germany. So you could some what say that West Germans are more used to Immigrants and other cultures, because there were nearly no immigrants in the DDR despite them beeing of another religion)
West Germany is richer:
So up to this point West German people got more money to travel the world get to know other cultures. Further rich people tend to get less attracted to political radical ideals (Statistically there are obviously exceptions).
More Young people live in West Germany:
So with the possibility of earning more money in the West or in order to live in bigger cities, many young people move to West Germany. Young people tend to be more open minded towards globalism, other cultures and new developments in general (again statiscally).