West Germany did not pay “lots” of reparations, far from it. It was pumped with money through the Marshall Plan, and Volkswagen & Hugo Boss are still around.
Very few West German Nazis went to trial or were jailed. Many were placed in prominent positions in the new government and the governments of other NATO countries and in NATO itself.
The reason things played out that way is pretty straightforward: fascism is compatible with capitalism, and communism is incompatible with both. The Western capitalist states were more motivated to destroy communism than fascism, and they were happy to use fascism as a weapon against communism.
West Germany did not pay “lots” of reparations, far from it. It was pumped with money through the Marshall Plan, and Volkswagen & Hugo Boss are still around.
Very few West German Nazis went to trial or were jailed. Many were placed in prominent positions in the new government and the governments of other NATO countries and in NATO itself.
.
The reason things played out that way is pretty straightforward: fascism is compatible with capitalism, and communism is incompatible with both. The Western capitalist states were more motivated to destroy communism than fascism, and they were happy to use fascism as a weapon against communism.