Study: Postwar German Interior Ministry made up of more than half former Nazi party members

FILE - In this 1938 file photo Heinrich Himmler, second right, chief of secret police and Dr. Wilhelm Frick, right, and other leading members of the Nazi party march along Koenigliche Platz in Munich, southern Germany. A historical commission examining the Nazi links of Germany’s Interior Ministry says more than half of the staffers from 1949 to 1970 had belonged to the Nazi party. In an interim report presented Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 the commission said 54 percent of staffers during those years had been former Nazi party members, and many had also been members of the SS or SA. Eight percent had served in the Nazi Interior Ministry, which was run by Wilhelm Frick, who was executed for war crimes, and later SS-chief Heinrich Himmler. (AP Photo/file) (The Associated Press)

BERLIN – A commission of historians examining the Nazi links of West Germany's Interior Ministry says more than half of the staffers from 1949 to 1970 had belonged to the Nazi party.

In an interim report presented Wednesday, the commission said 54 percent of staffers during those years were former Nazi party members, and many had also been members of the SS or SA. Eight percent had served in the Nazi Interior Ministry — run by Wilhelm Frick, who was executed for war crimes, and later SS chief Heinrich Himmler.

Researcher Andreas Wirsching says when the study is finished in 2018, historians want to answer more questions like what those people did during the Nazi era, and how they affected postwar policies.

Several ministries have done similar studies, including foreign and finance.