NAZI OFFICIALS IN GERMANY SIR, —Herr Beckmann, in his letter published
in the Spectator of July 8th, disagrees with my statement that competent trained German officials, untainted by National Socialism, are very difficult to find, and he quotes his own case to refute my generalisation. My remarks on this subject were, it is true, based on personal experience of my own Kreis (where, three months ago, all the medium-grade officials, without exception, had been members of the N.S.D.A.P., and only the chief official, the Oberkreisdirektor, was politically completely "clean "), but I have good reason to believe that these conditions are mirrored to a lesser extent over a large portion of the British zone. The situation in Kreise contiguous to my own was certainly comparable, Herr Beckmann's own evidently embittering case is doubtless one of the exceptions that prove the rule.
When it is recalled how much pressure was exerted on officials to join the party during the Nazi regime, and that the overwhelming majority of them acceded to the pressure, either to protect their careers as officials, or ideologically to espouse the cause, it is obvious that today the majority of the trained Beamten available in the country must be classified as " tainted" to some degree or other. Most of the few stal- warts who resisted either lost their jobs or were more severely victimised. It would be interesting to know how many of these unfortunate and valuable people have been re-established.
Military Government's quite understandable policy of handing over gradually more and more governmental and administrative functions to the German administration has, of course, brought with it certain anoma- lies. The elected members of the Kreistage have powers of discretion over the Kreis officials. My experience does not bear out Herr Beck- mann's contention that incompetent people with a Nazi record are being retained as officials, though I noted a tendency for these elected members to attach increasingly more importance to considerations of efficiency than to those of political acceptability. The "democrat" was given precedence only if his ability was assessed as highly as that of the former Nazi. Military Government normally intervenes only if a particularly undesirable figure is involved, when the Regional Commissioners arc within their rights in vetoing a decision. For obvious reasons the Regional Commissioners only resort to this in exceptional circumstances.
One wonders what Herr Beckmann means by saying that an " active Nazi " is today in the position he himself formerly held. Surely he can hardly be referring to the splinter-parties which are at present endeavour- ing to preach what amounts to Neo-fascism.
I read Herr Beckmann's last paragraph to mean that the trust which he and some of his colleagues felt in the British Occupation has been shattered by our policy of handing over certain matters to the Germans themselves. I sympathise with his feelings, in view of the particulars he has given of himself. There arc, however, many in Germany who feel that this handing-over has been premature, and it is difficult to convince them that, in spite of certain undesirable results, it is essential for the Germans themselves to put some of the rooms of their house in order as best they can and with a minimum of outside interference. If this is not done, the aims of Military Government will never be achieved, and a full-scale occupation of Germany will be necessary for decades.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, N. PELHAM WRIGHT. Little Parkhurst, Abinger Common, Surrey.
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