The Catholic Church in Germany understood itself as an opponent and victim of National Socialism and repeatedly claimed to support denazification and the punishment of Nazi crimes, yet, the church was outspoken in its criticism of denazification and helped many former Nazis and war criminals avoid justice and retribution.
In this paper, Associate Professor Andrew Beattie will explore the church’s responses at various levels to the Allied occupiers’ mass internment of members of the Nazi party and state apparatus, including at sites of former Nazi camps such as Dachau.
Andrew Beattie is Associate Professor in German and European Studies and director of the Bachelor of Arts at UNSW Sydney. He has a PhD in History from the University of Sydney and has held fellowships in Florence, Potsdam, Constance, and Cologne. His research spans the fields of contemporary history, transitional justice, and memory studies. His first book, Playing Politics with History: The Bundestag Inquiries into East Germany (Berghahn Books 2008), examined the politics of history and memory relating to communist East Germany in reunified Germany. His second book, Allied Internment Camps in Occupied Germany, 1945–1950: Extrajudicial Detention in the Name of Denazification compared the internment policies and practices of the four occupying powers.
