Nazis, decent people, and propagandists : controversies regarding the restoration of Nazi influences in postwar West Germany / by John Paul Teschke.

This dissertation is an examination of the legal and propagandistic controversies engendered by the reemergence of Nazi influences in postwar West Germany on a case by case basis. The acceptance by the postwar German legal system that the Nazi regime had been legal was central to most of these problems. Exceptions to such acceptance by the German legal system were central to democratic development at Bonn. The study begins by looking the postwar setting and influences active in the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany. Allied trials and denazification efforts, despite their limited success, were necessary moves which provided some help in overcoming the legacy of the Nazi regime. The study also looks at legal controversies between ex-Nazis and those seeking to limit their influence. Particular problem areas such as Bonn's liberal pensions for former officials of the Nazi regime and the restoration to jobs of Nazi era legal personnel and the problems which that engendered are looked at. Two short biographies are included. Theodore Oberlaender was important because he represents the ex-Nazi rightwing nationalist milieus which the Adenauer system sought to accommodate within Bonn governing system. The chancellor's right hand man Globke was the most important of the Nazi era government functionaries who returned, in some instances, to positions more important than they had held during the Nazi era. Globke also set the tone for postwar personnel policies. The study also examines West Germany's efforts to try Nazi offenders. There were significant successes but also key failures. All such cases and controversies, even ones that were resolved in favor of Nazi influences, helped to develop democracy by disclosing the evils of the Nazi regime.