In the Crosshairs: Kurt Ziesel's Adenauer-Era Campaign to Expose the Nazi Pasts of West German Intellectuals

Abstract:In late 1957, a book titled Das verlorene Gewissen ("The Lost Conscience"), written by the conservative, right-wing publicist Kurt Ziesel (1911–2001), caused a sensation in West Germany. Ziesel's work attacked the careers of many German intellectuals who, having been active in the Third Reich, embraced democracy and publicly supported liberal views after 1945, all the while concealing their highly problematic Nazi-era positions and publications. The article analyzes Ziesel's methods of exposing the pasts of these prominent writers, and examines their reactions to Ziesel's accusations. As author Axel Schildt shows, despite the support from prominent voices such as Heinrich Böll, Theodor Heuss and others, those targeted by Ziesel did not succeed in fighting the accusations effectively. Ziesel was nevertheless unable to turn his efforts into longterm political gains. While he received much applause from staunchly conservative circles, his campaign began to falter in the mid-1960s. However, his methods became part of the arsenal of political conflict in the Federal Republic.