Editing Pursuit of Nazi collaborators (section)

== Means of pursuit ==
The pursuit took many forms, both individual and organised. Several organisations and individuals (famous [[Nazi hunter]]s) pursued ex-Nazis or Nazi [[Collaborationism|collaborators]] who allegedly engaged in [[war crime]]s or [[crimes against humanity]]. Individuals reported seeing someone they recognised, now living under a false identity. Specific individuals were named and sought by groups or governments for their crimes during the war.

Others were subject to after-war spontaneous retaliation in occupied countries, which in some areas led to "[[witch hunts]]" for those suspected of having been collaborators, in which vigilantism and summary justice were common. After a first period of spontaneous pursuit, provisional governments took the matter into their own hands and brought suspected criminals to court. The Nuremberg Trial in Germany judged only the highest German Nazi authorities, and each country prosecuted and sentenced their own collaborationists. [[Pierre Laval]] in France was judged and sentenced to death, while [[Philippe Pétain]] was also sentenced to death, but [[Charles de Gaulle]] later commuted that to a life sentence. Governments investigated and interrogated people suspected of collaboration, for example the [[Office of Special Investigations (United States Department of Justice)|U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations]].

Nazi support and escape organisations were infiltrated; the most famous was the [[ODESSA]] network, its various "[[Ratlines (history)|ratlines]]" and those believed to have aided and abetted them. However, many suspected war criminals were also given amnesty, and some reached high positions in post-war administrations (e.g. [[Maurice Papon]], who became [[Préfecture de police|Police Prefect of Paris]] in charge during the [[Algerian War]] (1954–62); he was blamed for the [[1961 Paris massacre]]). Others were never even tried, such as [[Robert de Foy]] who resumed his position as head of the [[Belgian State Security Service]] 1945–1958.