Editing Denazification (section)

===British zone===
[[File:KAS-Entnazifizierung-Bild-5866-1.jpg|thumb|A poster from the [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] state elections 1947, with the slogan "For a quick and just denazification vote [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]]"]]

The British prepared a plan from 1942 onwards, assigning a number of quite junior civil servants to head the administration of liberated territory in the rear of the Armies, with draconian powers to remove from their post, in both public and private domains, anyone suspected, usually on behavioral grounds, of harboring Nazi sympathies. For the British government, the rebuilding of German economic power was more important than the imprisonment of Nazi criminals.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wierskalla |first=Sven |title=Die Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes (VVN) in der Sowjetischen Besatzungszone und in Berlin 1945 bis 1948 |publisher=Grin Verlag |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-638-71696-3 |page=103}}</ref> Economically hard pressed at home after the war, Britain did not want the burden of feeding and otherwise administering Germany.<ref name=taylor11/>{{rp|p=299}}

In October 1945, in order to constitute a working legal system, and given that 90% of German lawyers had been members of the Nazi Party, the British decided that 50% of the German Legal Civil Service could be staffed by "nominal" Nazis. Similar pressures caused them to relax the restriction even further in April 1946.<ref name=taylor11/>{{rp|p=256}} In industry, especially in the economically crucial Ruhr area, the British began by being lenient about who owned or operated businesses, turning stricter by autumn of 1945. To reduce the power of industrialists, the British expanded the role of trade unions, giving them some decision-making powers.<ref name=taylor11/>{{rp|p=307-308}}

They were, however, especially zealous during the early months of occupation in bringing to justice anyone, soldiers or civilians, who had committed war crimes against POWs or captured Allied aircrew.<ref name=taylor11/>{{rp|p=293-295}} In June 1945 an [[Bad Nenndorf interrogation centre|interrogation center at Bad Nenndorf]] was opened, where detainees were tortured with exposure to cold, beatings, sleep deprivation, denial of food, etc. A public scandal ensued, with the center eventually being closed down.<ref name=taylor11/>{{rp|p=305-306}}

The British to some extent avoided being overwhelmed by the potential numbers of denazification investigations by requiring that no one need fill in the ''Fragebogen'' unless they were applying for an official or responsible position. This difference between American and British policy was decried by the Americans and caused some Nazis to seek shelter in the British zone.<ref name=taylor11/>{{rp|p=302-303,310}}

In January 1946, the British started introducing German involvement in the denazification process, establishing denazification panels and an appeal body. Denazification was formally handed over to the zone's Land governments in October 1947.<ref name=taylor11/>{{rp|p=303,312}}