ABSTRACT
The demands of the victims’ organizations were always met by descriptions of the tight financial situation of the state, which was supposed to make more generous help for the victims impossible. Consistent with the rejection of resistance members as heroes was the belief that the victims of National Socialism were only those who came to harm or lost their lives for their political engagement. The reintegration of former National Socialists had far-reaching social and psychological consequences. It prevented an analysis of the content of the National Socialist system and its ideology. The newspapers did publish reports on National Socialist crimes with regard to the European Jewry. Several initiatives and laws already passed by the National Council in favour of the former National Socialists failed because of the Allied Council’s veto and could only be realized after the conclusion of the Staatsvertrag in 1955.
