LI E) R.AR.Y OF THE U N IVERSITY Of ILLINOIS 301.154 M55p cop ,2 JommunlCe NOTICE: Return or renew all Library Materialsl The Minimum Fee for each Lost Book is $50.00. The person charging this material is responsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for discipli- nary action and may result in dismissal from the University. To renew call Telephone Center, 333-6400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN L161—O-1096 PUBLIC OPINION IN OCCUPIED GERMANY PUBLIC OPINION IN OCCUPIED GERMANY The OMGUS Surveys, 1945-1949 Edited by ANNA J. MERRITT and RICHARD L. MERRITT With a Foreword by FREDERICK W. WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS Urbana Chicago London © 1970 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 74-94397 252 00077 3 3oiJSi ^ For Christopher, Geoffrey, and Theo —our wanderers between two worlds CONTENTS Foreword xvii List of Abbreviations xxiii PARTI: POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN OCCUPIED GERMANY THE OMGUS SURVEYS 4 Questionnaires 4 Sampling 5 Field Work 5 Analysis 8 IMMEDIATE OCCUPATION POLICIES 9 Attitudes toward the American Occupation 9 American Information Policies 12 Specific Issues of the Occupation 15 Food Rationing 15 Refugees and Expellees 18 The Currency Reform 21 The Division of Germany 23 Berlin and the Blockade 26 DEMOCRATIZING POSTWAR GERMANY 29 Nazism and Denazification 30 Attitudes toward National Socialism 30 The Nuremberg War Crimes Trials 33 Denazification 35 Re-education for Democracy 39 German Political Culture 40 Political Participation 43 FROM DEMOCRATIZATION TO ANTICOMMUNISM: THE REORIENTATION OF AMERICAN POLICY 50 NOTES 58 PART II: THE OMGUS SURVEYS 1. Radio Listening in Germany, Winter 1946 (1 March 1946) 69 2. Who in Germany Has Read Mein Kampf? (March 1946) 70 3. Some Political Attitudes Probed on Recent Surveys (15 March 1946) 71 4. Income and Expenditures of German Families in the American Zone, Winter 1946 (25 March 1946) 73 5. Special Political Survey, Winter 1946 (1 April 1946) 74 6. Law No. 3 (20 April 1946) 77 viii/ CONTENTS 7. Reactions to Recent Revisions in the Denazification Program (11 May 1946) 79 8. Reactions to the New Tax Laws (1 June 1946) 80 9. Attitudes toward Religion and the Church as Political Factors in German Life (7 June 1946) 81 10. Attitudes toward Politics as a Career for the Coming Generation in Germany (21 June 1946) 83 1 1 . German Attitudes toward Trade Unions (27 June 1946) 85 12. Attitudes of Some Bavarian Schoolchildren (28 June 1946) 86 13. A Preliminary Study of Book Reading in Germany (28 June 1946) 88 14. Mail to Stimme Amerikas, February and March 1946 (6 July 1946) 89 14A. German Attitudes toward the Expulsion of German Nationals from Neighboring Countries (8 July 1946) 90 15. Relative Effects of Food Scarcity in Two Countries (27 July 1946) 92 16. German Attitudes toward the Nuremberg Trials (7 August 1946) 93 17. Attitudes toward International Leadership in Germany Compared with Attitudes in Seven Other Countries (8 August 1946) 95 18. A Study of Food Consumption and Attitudes toward Rationing and General Health of the German Population (14 August 1946) 96 19. Basic Attitudes Explored by the German Attitude Scale (19 August 1946) 99 20. Preliminary Study of Motion Picture Attendance and Attitudes (27 August 1946) 100 21. Attitudes toward Licensed Newspapers in Some American Occupied Areas (25 September 1946) 102 22. A Study of Attitudes toward the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of Germany (25 September 1946) 103 23. The Viennese Newspapers: An Opinion Research Study (22 October 1946) 106 24. Mannheim Attitudes toward Negro Troops (22 October 1946) 107 25. German Knowledge about and Attitudes toward Inflation (8 November 1946) 108 26. Information about the Land Constitutions and the Intention to Vote in the Constitutional Elections (13 November 1946) 110 27. German-American Relations in Germany: Frequencies of Group Contacts (13 November 1946) 111 28. An Investigation to Determine Any Changes in Attitudes of Native Germans toward the Expellees in Wuerttemberg-Baden (14 November 1946) 112 29. The Trend of Cares and Worries in Germany (21 November 1946) 114 30. Radio Listening in Vienna (14 December 1946) 115 31. The Standard of Living (14 December 1946) 117 32. Income, Expenditures, and Currency Holdings of the German Population and Attitudes toward General Economic Problems (10 December 1946) 118 33. The Trend of Public Reactions to the Nuremberg Trials (18 December 1946) 121 34. Attitudes toward Licensed Newspapers in Some American Occupied Areas (28 December 1946) 123 CONTENTS / ix 35. Attitudesof Trade Union Members (5 January 1947) 123 36. The German People and Social Classes (1 1 January 1947) 125 37. Opinions of Newspaper Readers (13 January 1947) 126 38. A Preliminary Study of Changes in Job Status (14 January 1947) 127 39. Reactions to and Penetration of Information Media in Vienna (14 January 1947) 128 40. Austrian Economic Difficulties and Attitudes toward Economic Problems (21 January 1947) 130 41. Attitudes toward General Economic Conditions (15 January 1947) 131 42. The Trend of Rumors (5 February 1947) 134 43. Readership of Heute, Amerikanische Rundschau and Neue Auslese (5 February 1947) 135 44. Opinions of German Community Leaders on International Affairs (6 February 1947) 137 45. Radio Listening in the American Zone and in Berlin (17 February 1947) 140 46. Army Aid to German Youth Activities Evaluated by German Adults (19 February 1947) 142 47. Opinions on the Expellee Problem (20 February 1947) 144 48. German Attitudes toward Freedom of Speech (5 March 1947) 145 49. Anti-Semitism in the American Zone (3 March 1947) 146 50. A Pilot Study on Displaced Persons (20 March 1947) 148 51. Attitudes toward Collective Guilt in the American Zone of Germany (2 April 1947) 149 52. Attitudes toward Food, Fuel, and Building Materials Conditions (27 March 1947) 150 53. Magazine Reading in the American Zone (8 April 1947) 152 54. Viennese Reactions to New Denazification Laws (8 April 1947) 153 55. Public Attitudes toward Denazification (15 April 1947) 154 56. German Children Appraise the Youth Program (26 April 1947) 155 57. Readership and Popularity of the Frankfurt Newspapers (29 April 1947) 157 58. Confidence in News in Present-Day Germany (1 May 1947) 158 59. Expectations Regarding Reparations (10 May 1947) 159 60. Trends in German Public Opinion (April 1947) 160 61. Some Attitudes toward the School System in Wuerttemberg-Baden (12 June 1947) 163 62. German Attitudes toward a Peace Treaty after the Conclusion of the Moscow Conference (14 June 1947) 164 63. German Opinion toward the Prospective Peace Treaty (8 August 1947) 166 64. Trends in Attitudes toward the Food Situation (25 August 1947) 167 65. Attitudes of Bavarians toward Loritz' Dismissal (27 September 1947) 168 66. German Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment (27 September 1947) 169 67. German Attitudes toward International Leadership (10 October 1947) 170 68. Trends in Attitudes toward National Socialism (10 October 1947) 171 69. German Opinions Regarding the Organization of Europe (16 October 1947) 172 70. German Understanding of the Reasons for the Food Shortage (17 October 1947) 173 71. Berlin: Symbol of a National State (17 October 1947) 174 72. A Report on German Morale (November 1947) 175 X /CONTENTS 73. A Guide to Some Propaganda Problems (28 October 1947) 177 74. Attitudes of AMZON Germans toward Government and Politics (27 October 1947) 178 75. What Berliners Expect from the London Conference (28 October 1947) 179 76. German Attitudes toward the Four Occupying Powers (29 October 1947) 180 77. Opinions on the Press in the American Zone of Germany (5 November 1947) 181 78. Bavarian Attitudes toward Newspapers (6 November 1947) 182 79. Attitudes toward American Capitalism (22 November 1947) 183 80. Opinions on Denazification (26 November 1947) 185 81. German Reactions to Expellees and DPs (3 December 1947) 186 82. German Sentiment for Peace and Economic Security (8 December 1947) 187 83. Newspaper Readership and Newscast Listening (9 December 1947) 188 84. Who Are the Expellees? And What Do They Think? (17 December 1947) 189 85. Summary of Trends of German Public Opinion (17 December 1947) 191 86. Summary of Reactions to End of London Conference (17 December 1947) 193 87. The Trend of German Attitudes toward Allied Cooperation (9 January 1948) 194 88. German Opinion on the People's Part in Political Affairs (20 January 1948) 195 89. Reception of the Pamphlet O^^en Gesagt (22 January 1948) 196 90. German Opinions on Socialization of Industry (23 January 1948) 197 91 . German Conceptions of American Bartering and Black Marketeering (24 January 1948) 198 92. Readers of Mein Kampf (9 February 1948) 199 93. "The Cream of the Crop" Two Years Later (11 February 1948) 200 94. Contacts between Germans and Americans (24 February 1948) 202 95. Appraisal of the Content of Education and Educational Facilities (25 February 1948) 203 96. German Youth versus Adults on Ouestions of Democracy (3 March 1948) 205 97. Berlin Reactions to Nagy's Pamphlet Machtraub in Ungarn (3 March 1948) 206 98. Government by Politicians, Experts, or the People? (6 March 1948) 207 99. A Report on German Youth (5 March 1948) 208 100. Trends in German Public Opinion (March 1948) 210 101. German Youth and Adults View Individual Responsibility (24 March 1948) 213 102. Patronage of U.S. Information Centers (24 March 1948) 215 103. Readership of Political Books and Pamphlets (24 March 1948) 216 104. The Marshall Plan in Prospect (24 March 1948) 216 105. Internationalism in Germany (27 March 1948) 217 106.