Nazi Symbols Research Articles

The Exodus of a Medical School

Letters15 December 1995The Exodus of a Medical SchoolEdzard Ernst, MDEdzard Ernst, MDUniversity of Exeter Exeter EX2 5DW, United KingdomSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-123-12-199512150-00022 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:I have received dozens of highly moving accounts from families directly affected by the events of 1938 in Vienna. The above three letters raise important questions on several aspects. First is the issue of Pernkopf and his atlas. In this work, the artists originally used Nazi symbols in their signatures that were removed from later editions. To characterize both Pernkopf and the Medical Faculty of the postwar period, it may be relevant to cite the official epitaph (published in the University's almanac in 1955), which makes no reference to the fact that Pernkopf supervised the “cleaning” of the ...

" 'Ne Art Burgerwehr in Form von Skins": Young Germans on the Streets in the Eastern and Western States of the Federal Republic

Ausliinderfeindlichkeit [xenophobia], groups of young men sporting Nazi symbols and looking for action, and incidents of violence against foreigners were never completely absent from the social landscape of the two postwar Germanies.1 Right-wing extremist groups were reorganizing in West Berlin in the 1950s. The 1960s were marked by a wave of right-wing incidents in the Federal Republic, ranging from painting Nazi symbols and slogans to violent attacks. The first mention of skinheads came from the English football hooligan scene in 1968.2 Right-wing terrorist activity increased, and several new right-wing groups emerged in the 1970s.3 In the same years, the peaceful coexistence of Germans and their foreign workers ended with the Zuzugsperre [blocking of immigration] of April 1, 1975 which stopped the

American Denazification and German Local Politics, 1945–1949: A Case Study in Marburg

Reviewing the accomplishments of three years of American occupation in Hessen the military governor wrote in 1948 that “the time is not yet ripe for a final appraisal of the effects of Denazification. There can be no doubt, however, that…it was not as effective in its ultimate objective—weeding out anti-democratic elements—as it should have been.” Although the quotation implies a basically negative purpose for denazification, American military government had a positive purpose as well: to provide conditions under which a more democratic life could grow and flourish. To achieve the positive aim, political parties, trade unions, and other democratic institutions were encouraged to develop, with the enforced condition that they be, and stay, purged of Nazis. To achieve the negative goal, military government liquidated the Nazi Party and its affiliated organizations; arrested and detained influential Nazis and “other dangerous persons”; removed and excluded Nazi Party members “of more than nominal importance” from schools, public offices and private enterprises; eradicated Nazi symbols from public places; seized and blocked Nazi property; eliminated Nazi teaching materials from the schools; and punished those Nazis who had taken an active part in the organizations declared to have been criminal by the Nuremberg Tribunal. Both a transfer of power and a transformation of the political climate were intended; each seemed a necessary condition for the other.Studies of the American program of denazification that have so far appeared are devoted chiefly to top-level analyses of the policy and its administration. The present study complements these by examining its impact at the lowest level in the military government's administrative hierarchy, in a single locality.

American Denazification and German Local Politics, 1945–1949: A Case Study in Marburg

Reviewing the accomplishments of three years of American occupation in Hessen the military governor wrote in 1948 that “the time is not yet ripe for a final appraisal of the effects of Denazification. There can be no doubt, however, that…it was not as effective in its ultimate objective—weeding out anti-democratic elements—as it should have been.” Although the quotation implies a basically negative purpose for denazification, American military government had a positive purpose as well: to provide conditions under which a more democratic life could grow and flourish. To achieve the positive aim, political parties, trade unions, and other democratic institutions were encouraged to develop, with the enforced condition that they be, and stay, purged of Nazis. To achieve the negative goal, military government liquidated the Nazi Party and its affiliated organizations; arrested and detained influential Nazis and “other dangerous persons”; removed and excluded Nazi Party members “of more than nominal importance” from schools, public offices and private enterprises; eradicated Nazi symbols from public places; seized and blocked Nazi property; eliminated Nazi teaching materials from the schools; and punished those Nazis who had taken an active part in the organizations declared to have been criminal by the Nuremberg Tribunal. Both a transfer of power and a transformation of the political climate were intended; each seemed a necessary condition for the other.Studies of the American program of denazification that have so far appeared are devoted chiefly to top-level analyses of the policy and its administration. The present study complements these by examining its impact at the lowest level in the military government's administrative hierarchy, in a single locality.