# Who Became a Nazi?

Victor Gay, Jan Stuckatz, Selina Hofstetter, Mikkel Dack

► To cite this version:

Victor Gay, Jan Stuckatz, Selina Hofstetter, Mikkel Dack. Who Became a Nazi?: A Structured Database of the German Denazification Questionnaires from the US Occupation Zone in Germany, 1945–1949. Toulouse School of Economics; Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse. 2024, 20 p. hal-04617544

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Submitted on 19 Jun 2024

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<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>
# Who Became a Nazi?

## A Structured Database of the German Denazification Questionnaires from the US Occupation Zone in Germany, 1945–9

Jan Stuckatz
CBS

Selina Hofstetter
Tec de Monterrey

Victor Gay
TSE

Mikkel Dack
Rowan

June 2024

Supported by

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG # 469232628)

Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-21-FRAL-0005)
# Who Became a Nazi?

## A Structured Database of the German Denazification Questionnaires
from the US Occupation Zone in Germany, 1945–9

Jan Stuckatz
CBS

Selina Hofstetter
Tec de Monterrey

Victor Gay
TSE

Mikkel Dack
Rowan

June 2024

Supported by

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG # 469232628)

Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-21-FRAL-0005)
# Individual Motivations for NSAP Membership

* What led Germans to support and join the Nazi party?

* WWII: one of the most well-documented historical periods.

* What caused Germans to vote for and join the Nazi party still not fully understood. Most data *aggregate, small-scale, or non-representative*.

* Very hard to obtain **individual-level data**.

1. Army files (Rass and Rohrkamp, 2009; Blum and de Bromhead, 2019).

2. NSAP membership files (Falter and Brustein, 2015; Satyanath, Voigtländer and Voth, 2017).

* Existing individual data **lacks socio-demographics and control group → only data on nazi party members, but not on non-members**.

→ Investigate motivations using **denazification questionnaires**.

**RQ1:** Which life events led to membership in nazi organizations?

**RQ2:** Did individuals benefit from nazi organization membership?
# Individual Motivations for NSAP Membership

* What led Germans to support and join the Nazi party?

* WWII: one of the most well-documented historical periods.

* What caused Germans to vote for and join the Nazi party still not fully understood. Most data *aggregate, small-scale, or non-representative*.

* Very hard to obtain **individual-level data**.

1. Army files (Rass and Rohrkamp, 2009; Blum and de Bromhead, 2019).

2. NSAP membership files (Falter and Brustein, 2015; Satyanath, Voigtländer and Voth, 2017).

* Existing individual data **lacks socio-demographics and control group → only data on nazi party members, but not on non-members**.

→ Investigate motivations using **denazification questionnaires**.

**RQ1:** Which life events led to membership in nazi organizations?

**RQ2:** Did individuals benefit from nazi organization membership?
Post-World War 2 Division of Germany

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>
Post-World War 2 Division of Germany

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>
# Denazification in Post-WWII Germany

* **Allies' 5 D's**: demilitarization, deindustrialization, decartelization, democratization, and **denazification**.

* **Potsdam Conference, 07/1945**: joint commitment to "[...] destroy last vestiges of Nazism and Fascism" (Dack, 2023, p.25).

* → **Denazification questionnaires** (*Fragebogen*) as cornerstone of denazification efforts.

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>
# Denazification in Post-WWII Germany

* **Allies' 5 D's**: demilitarization, deindustrialization, decartelization, democratization, and **denazification**.

* **Potsdam Conference, 07/1945**: joint commitment to "[...] destroy last vestiges of Nazism and Fascism" (Dack, 2023, p.25).

* → **Denazification questionnaires** (*Fragebogen*) as *cornerstone* of denazification efforts.

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /></figure>
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

* The Fragebogen included 131 questions: socio-demographics, professional career, income history, political and professional organizations, and military service (Dack, 2023).
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

* **The Fragebogen included 131 questions**: socio-demographics, professional career, income history, political and professional organizations, and military service (Dack, 2023).
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /></figure>
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /></figure>
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

* **The Fragebogen included 131 questions:** socio-demographics, professional career, income history, political and professional organizations, and military service (Dack, 2023).

* **Mandatory screening instrument:** every facet of post-war denazification revolved around it → political litmus test.

1. **Sanctions:** identify and punish NSDAP members/sympathisers by removing them from positions of influence.

2. **Employment:** to be completed and approved if individuals sought job as business manager or in civil service.
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

* **The Fragebogen included 131 questions**: socio-demographics, professional career, income history, political and professional organizations, and military service (Dack, 2023).

* **Mandatory screening instrument**: every facet of post-war denazification revolved around it → political litmus test.

1. **Sanctions**: identify and punish NSDAP members/sympathisers by removing them from positions of influence.

2. **Employment**: to be completed and approved if individuals sought job as business manager or in civil service.
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 1:** Crowd of German citizens filling out questionnaires, Frankfurt am Main.</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 2:** Fragebogen Submission in Berlin Steglitz, 1946.</figcaption></figure>
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 1:** Crowd of German citizens filling out questionnaires, Frankfurt am Main.</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 2:** Fragebogen Submission in Berlin Steglitz, 1946.</figcaption></figure>
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

* **The Fragebogen included 131 questions**: socio-demographics, professional career, income history, political and professional organizations, and military service (Dack, 2023).

* **Mandatory screening instrument**: every facet of post-war denazification revolved around it → political litmus test.

1. **Sanctions**: identify and punish NSDAP members/sympathisers by removing them from positions of influence.

2. **Employment**: to be completed and approved if individuals sought job as business manager or in civil service.

3. **Scale**: Disseminated among 20+ million Germans, 1945–9.

→ *One of the largest known historic surveys & autobiographies.*
# The Denazification Questionnaire (Fragebogen)

* **The Fragebogen included 131 questions**: socio-demographics, professional career, income history, political and professional organizations, and military service (Dack, 2023).

* **Mandatory screening instrument**: every facet of post-war denazification revolved around it → political litmus test.

1. **Sanctions**: identify and punish NSDAP members/sympathisers by removing them from positions of influence.

2. **Employment**: to be completed and approved if individuals sought job as business manager or in civil service.

3. **Scale**: Disseminated among 20+ million Germans, 1945–9.

→ *One of the largest known historic surveys & autobiographies.*
* **After military occupation:** U.S. took 500,000 individual *Fragebogen* files back to the U.S., to the National Archives (NARA), Maryland.

* **Our Data = 12,500 Fragebogen files:** representative population-stratif. sample for U.S. occupation zone counties in NARA.

1. *Socio-demographics:* education, religion, age, sex, ...

2. *Nazi Organisations:* 55 organizations, start/end date.

3. *Income History:* from 1931 to 1945.

4. *Work History:* from 1931 to 1945.

* **Nazi organization members and non-members.**

→ First data with *treated* and *non-treated individuals*.

→ Better comparison group and more credible inference.

* **Linked data:**

● Census data (industry, occupation, county).

● NSDAP membership file data (Falter and Brustein, 2015).
* **After military occupation:** U.S. took 500,000 individual *Fragebogen* files back to the U.S., to the National Archives (NARA), Maryland.

* **Our Data = 12,500 Fragebogen files:** representative population-stratif. sample for U.S. occupation zone counties in NARA.

1. *Socio-demographics:* education, religion, age, sex, ...

2. *Nazi Organisations:* 55 organizations, start/end date.

3. *Income History:* from 1931 to 1945.

4. *Work History:* from 1931 to 1945.

* **Nazi organization members and non-members.**

→ First data with *treated* and *non-treated individuals*.

→ Better comparison group and more credible inference.

* **Linked data:**

● Census data (industry, occupation, county).

● NSDAP membership file data (Falter and Brustein, 2015).
# Planned Empirical Analysis

## 1. Descriptive Analysis

* Nazi organization members vs. non-members.

* Occupations, education, religion, income, ...

## 2. Life events at $t \rightarrow$ probability to join nazi org. at $t+1, 2, ..., k$.

* Outcome: membership in NSDAP or other nazi organizations.

* Exogenous variation: involuntary unemployment or under-employment after world economic crisis 1929-30.

## 3. Nazi org. membership at $t \rightarrow$ potential benefits at $t+1, 2, ..., k$.

* Outcome: income, prof. development (promotions), military service.

* Exogenous variation: timing in 'nazi-fication' of certain occupations.
# Planned Empirical Analysis

## 1. Descriptive Analysis

* Nazi organization members vs. non-members.

* Occupations, education, religion, income, ...

## 2. Life events at $t \rightarrow$ probability to join nazi org. at $t+1, 2, ..., k$.

* Outcome: membership in NSDAP or other nazi organizations.

* Exogenous variation: involuntary unemployment or under-employment after world economic crisis 1929-30.

## 3. Nazi org. membership at $t \rightarrow$ potential benefits at $t+1, 2, ..., k$.

* Outcome: income, prof. development (promotions), military service.

* Exogenous variation: timing in 'nazi-fication' of certain occupations.
# Current Status of Project

1. Structure of Relational Database ✓
# Current Status of Project

1. Structure of Relational Database ✓
Database Structure (simplified)

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /></figure>
Database Structure (simplified)

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>
# Current Status of Project

1. Structure of Relational Database ✓

2. Inventory of Dossiers & Metadata Coding (✔)

* 70% done, to be finished end of July 2024.
# Current Status of Project

1. Structure of Relational Database ✓

2. Inventory of Dossiers & Metadata Coding (✔)

* 70% done, to be finished end of July 2024.
Fragebogen Metadata Annotation Progress

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>
# Fragebogen Metadata Annotation Progress

<figure><img src="image_9.png" /></figure>
# Fragebogen Coverage Across Counties

<figure><img src="image_9.png" /></figure>
# Fragebogen Coverage Across Counties

<figure><img src="image_10.png" /></figure>
# Current Status of Project

1. Structure of Relational Database ✓

2. Inventory of Dossiers & Metadata Coding (✓)
* 70% done, to be finished end of July 2024.

3. OCR of *Fragebogen* sections with Multimodal LLMs (✓)
* tested & workflow established.

4. RAs correct OCR as human-in-the-loop (✓)
* testing with questionnaire sample and few RAs.

5. Descriptives and Analyses ✗
# Current Status of Project

1. Structure of Relational Database ✓

2. Inventory of Dossiers & Metadata Coding (✓)
* 70% done, to be finished end of July 2024.

3. OCR of *Fragebogen* sections with Multimodal LLMs (✓)
* tested & workflow established.

4. RAs correct OCR as human-in-the-loop (✓)
* testing with questionnaire sample and few RAs.

5. Descriptives and Analyses ✗
# Other Analyses & Questions of Interest

* Justification of membership and re-definition of past.

* many dossiers contain written explanations, letters, supporting statements by neighbours, friends, colleagues.

* Disruption of work histories via occupation 'nazi-fication'.

* forced under- or unemployment of religious/political groups.

* Post-WW2 professional development of individuals.

* re-integration of former nazis in administration, business, politics.

* Impact of denazification on post-WW2 development.

* disruption of professional histories.
# Other Analyses & Questions of Interest

* Justification of membership and re-definition of past.

* many dossiers contain written explanations, letters, supporting statements by neighbours, friends, colleagues.

* Disruption of work histories via occupation 'nazi-fication'.

* forced under- or unemployment of religious/political groups.

* Post-WW2 professional development of individuals.

* re-integration of former nazis in administration, business, politics.

* Impact of denazification on post-WW2 development.

* disruption of professional histories.
# Summary

## What led Germans to support and join the Nazi party?

* Use the **denazification questionnaires (Fragebogen)** distributed in the US occupation zone in Germany, 1945–9 to measure individual membership in nazi organizations, work histories, and potential benefits from membership over time.

* **Individual-level panel data:** socio-demographics, work histories, nazi organization memberships, income, assets, military service.

* **Control groups:** data on both members and non-members → better comparison and estimation of effects of nazi organization membership.

* **Relational DB:** linkable to external data and make usable by public.

* **Contributions:**

1. Individual motivations to join extreme right wing organizations.

2. Costs and value of political connections.

3. German pre- and post-WW2 history.
# Summary

## What led Germans to support and join the Nazi party?

* Use the **denazification questionnaires (Fragebogen)** distributed in the US occupation zone in Germany, 1945–9 to measure individual membership in nazi organizations, work histories, and potential benefits from membership over time.

* **Individual-level panel data:** socio-demographics, work histories, nazi organization memberships, income, assets, military service.

* **Control groups:** data on both members and non-members → better comparison and estimation of effects of nazi organization membership.

* **Relational DB:** linkable to external data and make usable by public.

* **Contributions:**

1. Individual motivations to join extreme right wing organizations.

2. Costs and value of political connections.

3. German pre- and post-WW2 history.
References I

Blum, Matthias and Alan de Bromhead. 2019. "Rise and fall in the Third Reich: Social advancement and Nazi membership." *European Economic Review* 120:103312.

URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292119301643

Dack, Mikkel. 2023. *Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany: The Fragebogen and Political Screening during the Allied Occupation*. Cambridge University Press.

Falter, Jürgen W. and William Brustein. 2015. "Die Mitglieder der NSDAP 1925–1945."

Rass, Christoph and René Rohrkamp. 2009. "The Supraregional Exploitation of Individual-Related Sources on Members of Armed Forces of the Third Reich (German soldiers 1939 until 1945)." *GESIS Data Archive, Cologne*. ZA8410 Data file Version 1.0.0, https://doi.org/10.4232/1.8410.

Satyanath, Shanker, Nico Voigtländer and Hans-Joachim Voth. 2017. "Bowling for Fascism: Social Capital and the Rise of the Nazi Party." *Journal of Political Economy* 125(2):478–526.

URL: https://doi.org/10.1086/690949
References I

Blum, Matthias and Alan de Bromhead. 2019. "Rise and fall in the Third Reich: Social advancement and Nazi membership." *European Economic Review* 120:103312.

URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292119301643

Dack, Mikkel. 2023. *Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany: The Fragebogen and Political Screening during the Allied Occupation*. Cambridge University Press.

Falter, Jürgen W. and William Brustein. 2015. "Die Mitglieder der NSDAP 1925–1945."

Rass, Christoph and René Rohrkamp. 2009. "The Supraregional Exploitation of Individual-Related Sources on Members of Armed Forces of the Third Reich (German soldiers 1939 until 1945)." *GESIS Data Archive, Cologne*. ZA8410 Data file Version 1.0.0, https://doi.org/10.4232/1.8410.

Satyanath, Shanker, Nico Voigtländer and Hans-Joachim Voth. 2017. "Bowling for Fascism: Social Capital and the Rise of the Nazi Party." *Journal of Political Economy* 125(2):478–526.

URL: https://doi.org/10.1086/690949