Abstract

Imanuel Baumann, Andrej Stephan, Patrick Wagner

Das 1951 gegründete Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) rekrutierte seine Beamtenschaft zunächst aus ehemaligen Angehörigen der nationalsozialistischen Polizei. Ein vom BKA 2008 in Auftrag gegebenes Forschungsprojekt, dessen Ergebnisse der Aufsatz resümiert und reflektiert, ging drei Fragen nach: Welchen Einfluss gewannen die reaktivierten NS-Polizisten auf Konzeptionen und Praxis des BKA? Wie prägten die Erfahrungen, welche diese Polizisten vor 1945 gemacht hatten, das Amt nach 1945? Wie wurde die NS-Vergangenheit eines Teils der Gründergeneration innerhalb des BKA thematisiert? Während der 1950er-Jahre testeten die ehemaligen NS-Polizisten, inwieweit sie alte Konzepte im BKA würden fortführen können. In den 1960er-Jahren gerieten diese Beamten unter wachsenden Anpassungsdruck. Auf den radikalen Umbau der Behörde in den 1970er-Jahren besaßen sie keinen Einfluss mehr. Letztlich haben die im BKA reaktivierten NS-Polizisten den Rechtsstaat nicht gefährdet; gerade für die Verfolgten der NS-Zeit aber bleiben ihre Nachkriegskarrieren ein Skandal. Von übergreifendem Forschungsinteresse ist dabei die Analyse spezifischer Organisationskulturen und ihrer Transformationen.
 ∗       ∗       ∗
The Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office, abbreviated in German as BKA) was founded in 1951 and initially recruited its officers from the ranks of the National Socialist police force. A research project funded by the BKA in 2008 (the essential findings of which are presented in this essay) focused on three key questions. First, to what extent were the former Nazi staff able to influence the BKA ’s concepts and practice? Second, in what way did the experiences of policemen prior to 1945 shape the BKA? Third, how did people within the BKA talk about those members of the founding generation who had worked there during the National Socialist period? This essay shows that the former Nazi policemen employed by the BKA during the 1950s were keen to see if they could continue working according to concepts which had been adhered to before 1945. While these officers were increasingly urged to adapt to new circumstances during the 1960s, the reorganisation of the Criminal Police Office during the 1970s brought their influence to an end. Finally, the former National Socialist police members employed by the BKA after 1945 did not represent a realistic threat to the constitutional state. Nevertheless, their post-war careers continue to be a source of scandal, particularly for former victims of the National Socialist police. In this context, the authors’ analysis of different cultures of organisation and their transformation is relevant to studies in contemporary history as a whole.

Licence

Copyright © Clio-online – Historisches Fachinformationssystem e.V. and the author, all rights reserved. This work may be copied and redistributed for non-commercial purposes. However, republication can only be granted with prior written consent of the above-named rights holders. For permission to republish this work (including translations) please contact: <kirsch@zzf-potsdam.de>.

For the use of photographs, audio and video material included in the articles note the stated terms of licence and the rights holders.