Here's a fairly recent article about the topic: https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ddr/politik-gesellschaft/entnazifizierung-nazis-in-der-ddr-100.html https://www.m

Here's a fairly recent article about the topic: https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ddr/politik-gesellschaft/entnazifizierung-nazis-in-der-ddr-100.html https://www.mdr.de/geschichte/ddr/politik-gesellschaft/entna... While East Germany was indeed more serious about the de-nazification process than the West, in reality it wasn't as strict as the propaganda would want to make the world believe. It's also fairly well known by now that the National People's Army (or rather its shadowy predecessor 'Kasernierte Volkspolizei') was also built up with the help of experienced WW2 officers while turning a blind eye on their political past. Eventually the NVA dismissed at least the highest-ranking nazis (during the mid to late 50's), but it's naive to believe that East Germany didn't have its share of tolerated 'old nazi bureaucrats'.