I was reading some Wiki articles and noticed that both Eastern and Western Germany shortly after WW2 retired almost all equipment and vechiles that was used by the Nazis in the WW2, why is this a case?
I refuse to believe that they were that bad, in fact i believe i read once that the Nazi equipment was pretty good (tho scarce, especially at the end of the war) so was it just a part of the Denazification process?
Thank you all in advance for your answers!
Neither East Germany (DDR) nor West Germany (BRD) had an army after the war ended. The Bundeswehr (West German army) was formed in 1955, and the Nationale Volksarmee (East German army) was formed in 1956. By this time, what WW2 equipment had survived the end of the war had seen either a decade of use, or a decade of storage, and much of it was obsolete.
Some WW2 German equipment saw some post-war use. For example, the Panther tank served with the French, Bulgarian, and Romanian armies in the post-war 1940s (one reason it only served briefly was the extremely poor reliability of its drive-train). The Panzer IV also saw post-war service, with Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Syria (some of the Syrian tanks saw battle in 1967). By the time the German armies were re-formed, the surviving German tanks were either already in use, or worn out. The M47 Patton and M48 Patton tanks the the USA provided for the Bundeswehr were major improvements over WW2 German tanks, and there was no incentive for West Germany to use WW2 armour. Already in 1956, West Germany began a program to produce a tank to replace the Patton (this program would result in the Leopard, which saw use not only by Germany, but also by other NATO armies, and some non-NATO armies). East Germany began with the T-34/85 and the T-54, the latter being, like the Patton, a major improvement over WW2 armour.
As for small arms, the Bundeswehr began with the M1 rifle, but immediately sought a replacement rifle using the newly-adopted NATO standard rifle cartridge (7.62mm NATO). Of WW2 German rifles, the semi-automatic Gewehr 43 saw service with Czechoslovakia. The Sturmgewehr 44 saw wider use, being used by France, Yugoslavia (into the 1980s!). It was also used by East Germany - the Nationale Volksarmee used it until it could be replaced by the AK-47.
The Panzerfaust saw post-war use by Poland, including both captured WW2 weapons, and post-war production in Poland, until it was replaced by the Soviet RPG-2 in 1952.
In summary, by the time that the East and West German armies were re-formed in 1955-1956, WW2 German equipment was largely obsolete, or was rejected in favour of weapons using NATO or Warsaw Pact standard ammunition.