Exorcising Hitler: The Occupation and Denazification of Germany

By Frederick Taylor

The first major history of what happened in Germany immediately after the Second World War

'Frederick Taylor is one of the brightest historians writing today.' Newsweek

'Taylor's book is popular history at its best, essential reading for anyone who is interested in the Nazis and wants to know what happened next.' New Statesman

Germany had entered the twentieth century united, prosperous, and strong, admired by almost all humanity for its remarkable achievements. By 1945 it was a broken shell: its great cities lay in ruins and its shattered industries and cultural heritage seemed utterly beyond saving. The Germans themselves had come to be regarded as evil monsters. After six years of warfare how were the exhausted victors to handle the end of a horror that to most people seemed without precedent?

In Exorcising Hitler, Frederick Taylor tells the story of Germany's year zero and what came after. As he describes the final Allied campaign, the hunting down of the Nazi resistance, the vast displacement of peoples in central and eastern Europe, the attitudes of the conquerors, the competition between Soviet Russia and the West, the hunger and near starvation of a once proud people, the initially naive attempt at expunging Nazism from all aspects of German life and the later more pragmatic approach, we begin to understand that despite almost total destruction, a combination of conservatism, enterprise and pragmatism in relation to former Nazis enabled the economic miracle of the 1950s. And we see how it was only when the '60s generation (the children of the Nazi era) began to question their parents with increasing violence that Germany began to awake from its 'sleep cure'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Mar 7, 2011
• ISBN: 9781408824511

Frederick Taylor

Frederick Taylor studied history and modern languages at Oxford University and Sussex University. A Volkswagen Studentship award enabled him to research and travel widely in both parts of divided Germany at the height of the Cold War. Taylor is the author of Dresden and has edited and translated a number of works from German, including The Goebbels Diaries, 1939-1941. He is married with three children and lives in Cornwall, England.

Reviews for Exorcising Hitler

[David Mullen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant. Made me much more knowledgeable about Germany and the turmoil and eventual reconciliation it has been through since 1945. The author does not hold back when describing the conduct of Germans, British, Americans, French and Russians and never seems biased. That is some feat. I urge you to read this.

[fips-4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The period in German history following the Second World War is probably one of the most neglected in terms of popular history, far overshadowed by the war itself and frequently overlooked as a mere footnote to the origins of the Cold War. Yet the fascinating question remains as to why the peace following the First World War contributed to the beginnings of the Second, whilst the policies following the latter led to one of the longest periods of peace on the continent.

How the victors handled their policy of ‘unconditional surrender’, and what this entailed for occupied Germany, is the subject of Frederick Taylor’s book. It covers the final stages of the war, as the Allied and Soviet forces prepared to attack and occupy Germany proper. Military actions only play a background role in the narrative, Taylor focussing only on interactions with the civilians, including the atrocities most severely carried out on the Eastern Front, as well as retaliatory attacks by Nazi fanatics and so called ‘Werwolf’ units.

Where this book shines is in Taylor’s ability to compare and contrast the widely differing policies and practices of the occupying forces. Despite the complexity of the subject, the book highlights the differences between those directing policy and those governing forces on the ground, between those espousing punitive policies and those wishing to see a rapidly rehabilitated Germany, as well as comparing the Soviet, American, British and French zones. It becomes clear just how much of a challenge the question of denazification posed to the victors, which ostensibly remained an inflexible goal of all parties. The totalitarian nature of the Nazi Party meant that virtually no one had remained completely aloof of the system, leaving policy planners the major task of separating hardline Nazis from ‘career Nazis’, ‘muss Nazis’ or fellow travellers. Taylor treats each of the occupying zones separately, and looks at the systems put in place and measures their successes and failures, not just in terms of raw numbers weeding out devout Nazis, but also the impact of these policies on the German population, and to what extent these changes were lasting.

Unfortunately, this book has one major failing, and that lies in its title. Subtitled “The Occupation and Denazification of Germany”, there feels to be rather too much of the former and not enough of the latter to justify the name. Taylor does spend a lot of time dealing with the occupiers’ attempts to remove Nazis themselves from positions of influence in German society, but there is little to nothing on their own and subsequent German policies as regards dealing with Nazism as an ideology. There is surprisingly little on areas such as education, the media and law, and even such mundane things as the renaming of streets or the treatment of the swastika are left out. Even the Psychological Warfare Division responsible for Allied propaganda goes unmentioned in the index (albeit some of their actions are covered). Aside from this, it is also disappointing that there are virtually no comparisons to occupation and denazification policies in other countries after the Second World War, e.g. Austria or France, or similar ‘purification’ actions during other periods (Taylor mentions the de-Ba’athification policy of the Iraq War a few times, without making any direct allusions). However given the scope of the book, the omission can be understood. Finally as another commenter pointed out, it seems that someone working for the publisher decided that the book would sell better with HITLER written in large letters across the front, which is at once no doubt true, but all the same bitterly depressing.

For all this, Exorcising Hitler is an extremely well-written and well-researched account of immediate post-war Germany. No apologist, Taylor points out appalling conditions in Western POW camps, engineered through pure legal sophistry, the mass rapes and atrocities in the East, and the sufferings of refugees and ‘displaced persons’ driven from their territories and turned back from others. A potentially bewildering subject, Taylor takes the issue of denazification apart and analyses each policy and practical element in turn, comparing and contrasting the different approaches, and examining the successes and failures of the post-war occupation. The book’s epilogue ties the whole together with an excellent summary of the reactions to and effects of these policies in post-war Germany right through to the present day.

[vgaharris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Outstanding. Likely the best book on the Occupation I have read. Untangles the intricate diplomatic, political, and social dimensions that made DeNazification such a complex undertaking. Excellent commentary on Nuremberg Trials, the food crises, and the territorial squabbling in the post-war.

[bke-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting discussion of the early post war occupation of Germany, and attempts at 'reeducation.

[schmerguls · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a 2011 book by a British historian which tells well of the occupation of Germany beginning in late 1944 and completed by May 8, 1945. The account of the period from 1945 to 1947 occupies most of the book, and seems disjointed and overly anecdotal and somewhat superficial. It jumps around and does not seem well-organized. But the final chapter, telling of the course of Grman history from 1947 to the present, is a joy to read and makes reading the whole book seem well worhwhile

[mabith_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a really excellent book. I've never read much about the post-war occupation or about the allies specific relationships with each other. Taylor is blunt about the numerous problems and common perceptions, and seems pretty damn unbiased to me (though not having studied the subject I'm not the best judge). He certainly doesn't focus on one nation's flaws more than the rest. Much of the first half actually deals with situations before the war is over, but doesn't focus on the big-picture war so much as various allies' priorities, POW camps, plans for occupation, behavior in overrun towns, etc... It's necessary to give background on what followed. His really in-depth coverage only goes to about 1949-50, and after that still provides a lot of information up to the present day just not in such great details and covering fewer aspects.The only odd thing was that he initially talked about how history should have informed the politician's and military's views/policies towards the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions but didn't, only to basically drop the subject. He'd occasionally make a one or two sentence remark later, but with that little attention focused on it he should have dropped the comparisons completely.It really was fascinating, and he provides quotes and stories from numerous sources (both civilian and military), which makes the book much more readable than it might have been. The writing is very good, and while it's not completely chronological the book is broken into multiple topics which are then presented chronologically. I found it easy to follow and engaging. The audio book edition is extremely well-read.

[pokarekareana · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A long and rather tedious read; I wanted to get a sense of what it was like to live in post-war Germany in Hitler's shadow, but this read more like a survey of what Germans were doing rather than what they were thinking.