Postwar denazification systematically rewarded former Nazi sympathizers over resisters.

Evidence

Even if the top criminals are put on trial, if they are condemned and in some cases executed, the majority of the Germans who sympathized with Nazism are better off today than those who distanced themselves from fascism. This is true to such an extent that one can justifiably say that the institutionalization of denazification has achieved the opposite of what was intended (just like the Weimar `Law for the Protection of the Republic’). Anyone who had contacts with Nazis could have his denazification procedure speeded up, pay a fine of a few thousand worthless marks, and return to his previous post straight away. Only very few of those who had enough moral strength to risk their lives by opposing the Party are now holders of government or university posts. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1717

Categorization

• SEED: Essay angle: how the mechanics of amnesty-as-bureaucracy (fines in inflated currency, expedited paperwork) inverts moral incentives — a case study in institutionalized impunity.
• XREF: Parallels the modern ‘rehabilitation’ of authoritarian-era officials and lustration debates in post-communist states; also connects to Milgram’s point that institutions invert moral judgment. — connects to: Institutionalized denazification rewarded Nazi sympathizers and punished resisters — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 424; Nazi perpetrators escaped justice and later benefited from denial of their crimes — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3222; Postwar Germany taught Europeans that passive sympathy with tyranny pays more than resistance. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1718 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Postwar Germany taught Europeans that passive sympathy with tyranny pays more than resistance. #corroborates (0.90) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1718
• Occupation authorities’ stabilization efforts preserved Nazi-era economic elites’ positions #corroborates (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1639
• Nazi perpetrators escaped justice and later benefited from denial of their crimes #expands (0.80) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3222