My great-grandfather wasn't a Nazi, was he?

Sources:

Staatsarchiv Amberg, Spruchkammer Regensburg II Reporting sheets Sch 539 (Spruchkammermeldebogen Oskar Schindler, 1946). Staatsarchiv München, Spruchkammerakten Karton 842, Dr. Friedrich Kartini, co-organizer of the resistance movement “Freiheitsaktion Bayern” (Spruch and statement by Dr. Rupprecht Gerngross, leader of the “Freiheitsaktion Bayern”, 1946). Staatsarchiv München, Spruchkammerakten Karton 1316, Johann Pfeuffer, Kriminalinspektor at the Secret State Police (Ceugenaussagen und Spruch, 1947–1953). Staatsarchiv München, Spruchkammerakten Karton 1743, Michael Lenkenschlögl, Richter am Sondergericht Munich 2 (Death judgment of the special court Munich 2 chaired by Swingenschlögls, rejection of a grace, testimony of witness, Spruch, 1944).

Points of attachment:

How did the rule of the National Socialists in Bavaria and my hometown work? Who were perpetrators, fellow-runners, victims of Nazi times? How was the NS period worked up in Bavaria after 1945? How can I find out more about the denazification in Bavaria?

With the unconditional surrender of 8. May 1945 ended the Second World War and the rule of the Nazis in Germany. Bavaria became part of the US occupation zone under the Potsdam Agreement. In addition to the reconstruction, Bavaria's military government was on the agenda: people affected should be removed from their offices and punished according to their behaviour during the NS leadership. After a first phase with arrests and partly flat-rate dismissals, the 5th. March 1946 passed the Law on the Liberation of National Socialism and Militarism, which was applicable to all countries under American occupation sovereignty.

All former members of the NSDAP and its subsidiary organisations were registered under this so-called "Entnazification Act". The persons concerned were classified in five exposure groups:

I. Main accused

II. Loaded

III. Minor loaded

IV. Mitläufer

V. Unloaded.

For registration, each person older than 18 years had to fill out a questionnaire from the military government – the Spruchkammer report sheet. In addition to personal information and the professional career (the data correspond to a current CV), it was necessary to specify when the entry into the NSDAP and its subsidiary organisations took place and what rank of the affected persons. In addition, the merit and the fortune had to be accurately determined.

The arches of Oskar and Emilie Schindler can also be found among all the overcrowded chaff records. Both achieved celebrity through the film “Schindler’s list”. During the NS period, the couple saved many Jews by employment in his factory before deportation. The Schindlers lived in Regensburg after the end of the Second World War and were also de-enacted there.

The questionnaires were forwarded to the leniency chambers specifically set up for the denazification of the local courts, which carried out the denazification procedures. The bribes were largely independent and independent of military government instructions. Appeal Chambers decided to appeal against first instance disputes.

In contrast to today's criminal proceedings, the presumption of innocence was not valid: he could try to apologise through testimony and designation of witnesses. The bribes also determined themselves and sought credible witnesses. As a result, the Chamber of Proverbs could make a complete picture of the actions and motivations of the accused. For example, the lawyer Dr. Friedrich Kartini, who left the NSDAP in 1937 and participated in the resistance movement “Freiheitsaktion Bayern”. More difficult was the classification of long-term party members or professional officers. Were they convinced National Socialists, did they merely exercise their duties under pressure or did they commit themselves to individual victims as part of their practice of service? For example, numerous statements from persecuted people benefited the senior Gestapo officer Johann Pfeuffer. Other victims of NS ruled him as hard-hearted and obscure. The Spruchkammer ultimately took into account the numerous unloading statements and classified it as underloaded. It's a verdict you can argue about.

Broad strata in society declined the defensive measures, which had an effect on the statements before the chambers and their activities. Thus it is not surprising that the American military government has been outraged by the decisions of the chambers of bribes in the first six months: only 6.9 % have been charged, and from these 75 % have been classified into the class of co-runners. Despite the threat of the military government to take its own measures for defensiveness, the unrealistic quotas only changed little. On the contrary, as of 1947, the American military government increasingly lost interest in denazification. In view of the emerging opposition to the communist Soviet Union, the reconstruction of Bavaria should be the focus. In this context, the failed denomination of the Munich judge Michael Schweenschlögl is also to be seen, which was pardoned by the Spruchkammer despite the implied death sentences. Later he made careers in the Bavarian judicial service.

The written tradition of the Bavarian Chambers of Spruch came via the local courts into the care of the Bavarian State Archives. Today, these documents are stored in the state archives and are central sources of research into the NS time in Bavaria.

Course reference:

methodological competence, judgment competence, orientation competence, Bavarian identity, territory and cultural heritage (Gymnasium, class 8), human rights yesterday and today (Gymnasium, class 9), National Socialism and World War II (Gymnasium, class 9), democracy and dictatorship – Problem of German history in the 20th century Century (Gymnasium, class 11/12)

Further information

Paul Hoser, Entnazification, published on 5.2.2013. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria, URL:
https://www.historical-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Entnazification (2.8.2018).

https://www.bavarikon.de/object/bav:GDA-OBJ-00000BAV80000048?cq=schindler&p=-1

Veronika Diem, Freedom Action Bayern (FAB), published on 22.4.2015. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria, URL: https://www.historical-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Freiheitsaktion_Bayern_(FAB) (20.05.2019).