#+title: many Nazis held positions of power in West Germany
- tags :: [[file:20200713212425-nazis.org][Nazism]] [[file:20210509115420-west_germany.org][West Germany]] [[file:20210130191322-germany.org][Germany]]

In the aftermath of the [[file:20201219145138-second_world_war.org][Second World War]], as many as 55% of the federal
government of West Germany had been former Nazis. Having been a member of the
Nazi party was not seen as being such a bad thing in the first couple of decades
after the war, and many former Nazis were able to simply continue their
Nazi-related work out in the open.

Tangentially, the [[file:20210330201641-united_states.org][United States]] also sheltered many Nazis as part of [[file:20210509115637-operation_paperclip.org][Operation
Paperclip]].