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Nazis at the Watercooler: War Criminals in Postwar German Government Agencies
Nazis at the Watercooler chronicles a historic injustice quieted by German government officials and abetted by the the ease with which Nazi war criminals were able to land jobs in the postwar civil service, largely because of a callous indifference among German authorities about job candidates’ wartime records.
- GenresHistory
320 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 26, 2025
Growing up, both in school and at home I was always told that after World War II, the Germans did a great job reckoning with their past and it was something we could learn from in the United States. After reading Nazis at the Watercooler, I realize that was a lie. Both the new West German government and the United States were complicit in protecting war criminals.
The stories are detailed with evidence to back it up. In some cases, the information came to light after CIA files were declassified. The precursor to the CIA helped protect war criminals they thought would be helpful in spying on the new enemy, the Soviet Union. In one case, they financed a whole operation involving the employment of hundreds of former Nazis, thinking this would aid in the Cold War conflict. It was a waste of money.
You might ask about the Nuremberg Trials. That was reserved for the most heinous of the Nazi War Criminals. As the process dragged on, everyday Germans grew tired of the trials and there was a fear that continuing them would push the country more toward an alliance with the Soviets. However, once the trials stopped and so many former Nazis were hired in the new government, the Soviet Union and East Germany used this knowledge to strike at the credibility of the new government in West Germany.
Author Terrence Petty has organized information gleaned from other books, historical documents, and his own research to detail how many responsible for war crimes were given positions in the new West German government. Both the United States and West Germany glossed over the concept of background checks, allowing these men to write their own biographies of what they did during the war and accepting them at face value. Even when they were discovered, they were often transferred within the government to a less prominent role or allowed to retire.
To read my full review please go to Nazis at the Watercooler: War Criminals in Postwar German Government Agencies by Terrence C. Petty – The Hidden Legacy of Nazis in West Germany’s Government
The stories are detailed with evidence to back it up. In some cases, the information came to light after CIA files were declassified. The precursor to the CIA helped protect war criminals they thought would be helpful in spying on the new enemy, the Soviet Union. In one case, they financed a whole operation involving the employment of hundreds of former Nazis, thinking this would aid in the Cold War conflict. It was a waste of money.
You might ask about the Nuremberg Trials. That was reserved for the most heinous of the Nazi War Criminals. As the process dragged on, everyday Germans grew tired of the trials and there was a fear that continuing them would push the country more toward an alliance with the Soviets. However, once the trials stopped and so many former Nazis were hired in the new government, the Soviet Union and East Germany used this knowledge to strike at the credibility of the new government in West Germany.
Author Terrence Petty has organized information gleaned from other books, historical documents, and his own research to detail how many responsible for war crimes were given positions in the new West German government. Both the United States and West Germany glossed over the concept of background checks, allowing these men to write their own biographies of what they did during the war and accepting them at face value. Even when they were discovered, they were often transferred within the government to a less prominent role or allowed to retire.
To read my full review please go to Nazis at the Watercooler: War Criminals in Postwar German Government Agencies by Terrence C. Petty – The Hidden Legacy of Nazis in West Germany’s Government
November 6, 2024
Terrence Petty's Nazis at the Watercooler: War Criminals in Postwar German Government Agencies is a damning and wide-ranging investigation into post world war II Germany's penchant for placing former Nazis in high positions in various German government agencies.
Other books have taken up the subject of the American blind eye to war crimes when it was to the benefit of the space race or the cold war against the Soviet Union, here it is centered specifically on the dawn of a new democratic age in Germany. Post war there was supposed to be a process of denazification, that was rapidly moved from US and Allied control, to German control. Already weak, it became farcical. Instead Germany embraced a forgetting of the bad times, leading to a generational "amnesia" or avoidance to search to hard into a candidates background.
Across the chapters Petty explores important and tainted figures within different governmental agencies, compromised figures forced or willingly serving as Soviet or double agents and the careers of anti Hitler dissidents who should have had more opportunity in the post war government. There are a lot of figures named and biographed, and at times this can feel like something of a recitation. The 15 chapters are semi-chronologically, divided into two sections. The first, American Culpability, lays out the process by which outside the Nuremberg trials most Nazis were let off the hook for their crimes. Part 2, "Second Guilt" narrates the upending of the Cold War fueled amnesia and the long delayed reckoning with those guilty of war crimes and the attempts to seek justice.
Petty brings it to the present discussing more recent operations against extremist elements in the German police and military and the ongoing alarming inward focus of nationalist parties. It is a hard read, though very timely.
Recommended for readers and researchers of Post wwII Europe, history, German History or the Cold War.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
Other books have taken up the subject of the American blind eye to war crimes when it was to the benefit of the space race or the cold war against the Soviet Union, here it is centered specifically on the dawn of a new democratic age in Germany. Post war there was supposed to be a process of denazification, that was rapidly moved from US and Allied control, to German control. Already weak, it became farcical. Instead Germany embraced a forgetting of the bad times, leading to a generational "amnesia" or avoidance to search to hard into a candidates background.
Across the chapters Petty explores important and tainted figures within different governmental agencies, compromised figures forced or willingly serving as Soviet or double agents and the careers of anti Hitler dissidents who should have had more opportunity in the post war government. There are a lot of figures named and biographed, and at times this can feel like something of a recitation. The 15 chapters are semi-chronologically, divided into two sections. The first, American Culpability, lays out the process by which outside the Nuremberg trials most Nazis were let off the hook for their crimes. Part 2, "Second Guilt" narrates the upending of the Cold War fueled amnesia and the long delayed reckoning with those guilty of war crimes and the attempts to seek justice.
Petty brings it to the present discussing more recent operations against extremist elements in the German police and military and the ongoing alarming inward focus of nationalist parties. It is a hard read, though very timely.
Recommended for readers and researchers of Post wwII Europe, history, German History or the Cold War.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
January 27, 2025
This was a rough read. It’s a very well-written and well-researched book, but it will make you absolutely livid. The number of Nazis that got away without any sort of punishment is astounding. And not just low level Nazis, people who joined the party but never participated. People who were actively involved in murdering and torturing Jews.
These men were able to step into government jobs in the newly formed German govt and worked hand in hand with the American govt. and America was complicit b/c they felt that the USSR was a greater danger. It’s disgusting that these monsters were rewarded for their atrocities and never had to suffer any jail time or repercussions. This book makes me want to dig deeper into this part of history.
*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*
These men were able to step into government jobs in the newly formed German govt and worked hand in hand with the American govt. and America was complicit b/c they felt that the USSR was a greater danger. It’s disgusting that these monsters were rewarded for their atrocities and never had to suffer any jail time or repercussions. This book makes me want to dig deeper into this part of history.
*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*
January 26, 2025
A brilliant and necessary book. Petty’s journalistic precision shines as he uncovers the post-WWII trajectory of former Nazis and the lingering spread of their ideology. This is a vital and shocking read with lessons that are greatly relevant today.
November 5, 2024
Very interesting book about how West and East German leaders hired ex - Nazis and even some war criminals for government positions after WW2 and failed to hold them responsible for their atrocities.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews