denazification
Postwar German purge
Denazification was the Allied program after World War II to remove Nazi ideology, personnel, and influence from German society.
Officials were screened, war criminals prosecuted, and Nazi symbols banned.
The term now applies to any effort to purge a society of fascist or authoritarian elements—Russia claimed denazification as justification for invading Ukraine in 2022, though critics called this pretext.
Transition toward popular rule
- reeducationCoerced ideological transformation
- demilitarizationRemoval of armed forces
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- decartelizationDismantling monopolistic business structures
Evaluating suitability through investigation
- purgeEliminate unwanted elements
- screeningEvaluative selection process
- disqualificationRemoval from eligibility
- blacklistingFormally marking for rejection
Pursuing legal charges
- accountabilityObligation for one's actions
- tribunalJudicial decision-making body
- verdictOfficial court decision
- sentencingImposing legal punishment
conviction · guilt · punishment · amnesty · clemency · extradition · indictment · testimony
Act of honoring memory
- reckoningSettlement of accounts
- atonementCompensation for wrongdoing
- reconciliationRestoration of friendly relations
- memorializationPreserving in lasting tribute
democratization
Transition toward popular rule
- reeducationCoerced ideological transformation
- demilitarizationRemoval of armed forces
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
vetting
Evaluating suitability through investigation
- purgeEliminate unwanted elements
- screeningEvaluative selection process
- disqualificationRemoval from eligibility
prosecution
Pursuing legal charges
- accountabilityObligation for one's actions
- tribunalJudicial decision-making body
- verdictOfficial court decision
sentencing · conviction · guilt · punishment · amnesty · clemency · extradition · indictment · testimony · evidence
commemoration
Act of honoring memory
- reckoningSettlement of accounts
- atonementCompensation for wrongdoing
- reconciliationRestoration of friendly relations
- GermanyBerlin, Munich, Hamburg, Germany, German
- German HistoryPrussia, Saxony, Reichstag, Napoleonic Wars, Weimar Republic
- German PoliticsBundesrat, CSU, Greens, federal republic, chancellor
- Nazi GermanyAdolf Hitler, Hitler, Nazis, Third Reich, Reich
- German MovementsBauhaus, White Rose, Weimar, reunification, unification
- postwarrebuilding, demobilization, peace treaties, treaty signing, war reparations
denazificationamnesty
Group pardon from authorities
rehabilitation · reinstatement · pardoning · whitewashing · exoneration
denazificationNazification
Imposing totalitarian German ideology