Evacuating the Camps: The Last Collective Crime of Nazi Society

Following recent research on Nazi perpetrators and the death marches, this article further examines the broad involvement of the local German population in the camp evacuations by utilizing action-theoretical and praxeological implications. Primarily based on sources from US and German case files, the author widens the spectrum of protagonists in order to expose the involvement of many ‘ordinary Germans’ as active participants. Dealing not only with direct perpetrators, but also with groups of denouncers, logistical supporters, witnesses, as well as the few rescuers, he outlines the camp evacuations as a decentralized societal crime in Nazi Germany's rural areas: a scenario of broad participation in extremely violent events with neither centralized control nor necessarily shared orders or goals among its agents. The article also addresses the aftermath of the camp evacuations by asking how this role of the local German population was reflected in prosecution and public remembrance of the death marches.