Hello. In order for Germany to recover after WWII, the country was taken control of by the allies and split into four zones: American, British, Soviet, and French. I have answered a similar question before so here is my old answer. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Once the war was over, Germany was obviously in bad shape. Across Germany and the days leading to the end of the war, Allied soldier were closing in on Berlin. The US, UK, France, Canada, from the West and the Soviet Union from the East. As they closed in on the capital, many German soldiers were captured. Concentration camp survivors were liberated and many of the Nazis and guards that were in charge of the camp were captured. General Civilians who survived were forced to obey the allied soldiers in their area. Those that resided near concentration camps were forced to see them. This summarizes the immediate aftermath of the war in Germany. 17 July 1945 - 2 August 1945 was the Potsdam Conference where the allied leaders: Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin and other majors leader met to settle on how Germany would be repaired. It was split into four zones: the American Zone, the British Zone, the French Zone, and the Soviet Zone. Berlin was also split among the four groups.

The conference also focused on 'Five D's: demilitarization, denazification, democratization, decentralization, and deindustrialization. At the hand of the allies, this is how Germany repaired itself. Denazification took place in Germany to Denazify former members of the Nazi Party, soldiers, and civlians. Denazification varied on which area one resisded. The American zone was strict, while wanting Germany to embrace democracy, they did not want any former Nazis to hold any kind of power in office. This led to a lack of those willing to hold power. In the British zone, they focused on rebuilding the economy and administrative authorities. If someone was familiar with an area, the British gave them the chance to repair their area. Even if they were a former Nazi.

France was harsher. They took Germans and former Nazis and forced them to work in France rebuilding and repairing. The French really only cared about the French, and they focused on repairing with civil service and industry. The Soviet Union turned their zone into a communist area and left denazification to the Germans themselves. Their goal was to push communism through. They also deported many former Nazis and political opponents to Gulags in the Soviet Union. Many of those they sent were those who worked in concentration camps, but in the end, it was anyone they classified as an opponent of the Soviet Union.

Denazification also took place in schools. In 1936, in was mandatory all youth joined Hitler Youth or German League for girls. The children grew up in a cirriculum surrounded by Nazi policy. In the American, French, and British zones, school children were taught democratic ideals and had a balanced cirriculum and had activities like student government and a student paper to help them.

There was also the Nuremberg Trials which former Nazi leaders were put on trial for their war crimes. Many were executed for war crimes and many more were imprisoned for several years after the war. Once they were freed, many lived out a quiet life in Germany or elsewhere. At the Nuremberg Trials, many former concentration camp prisoners testified against the former concentration camp guards. Very few got off without being punished in some way. The process of Denazification was to remove Nazi ideals from former members of the Nazi Party. The allies had a classification system for former Nazis. The vast majority were classified followers and once their applicaton was completed and signed off, they were allowed to free and not subject to any restrictions denying them work. Lesser offenders were on a few year probation. Moderate offenders and major offenders were imprisoned and had a lot of restrictions imposed on them.

Once people were considered Denazified, they were allowed to be apart of society. Many stayed in Germany to help rebuild but many also immigrated to seek a new life elsewhere were they were free of their past. However for many, they still lived with the guilt caused from the war for the rest of their lives.

Sources: Exorcising Hitler: The Occupation and Denazification of Germany by Frederick Taylor (2011)

Denazification (Alliierten Museum)

Potsdam Conference (Britannica)

The end of WWII and the Division of Europe, Center for European Studies - UNC Chapel Hill

(Old answer page: here.)