The Struggle for the Files
The Western Allies and the Return of German Archives after the Second World War

This book traces the history of German records captured by American and British troops in 1945 and the negotiations for their return into German custody.

Astrid M. Eckert (Author)

9781107629202, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 February 2014

444 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.65 kg

'… the author brilliantly recounts cooperative achievements and internal squabbles among scholars across the national boundaries. The book's translation, provided by the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, is excellent.' Diethelm Prowe, The Journal of Modern History

When American and British troops swept through the German Reich in the spring of 1945, they confiscated a broad range of government papers and archives. These records were subsequently used in war crimes trials and published under Allied auspices to document the German road to war. In 1949, the West Germans asked for their return, considering the request one of the benchmarks of their new state sovereignty. This book traces the tangled history of the captured German records and the extended negotiations for their return into German custody. Based on meticulous research in British, American and German archives, The Struggle for the Files highlights an overlooked aspect of early West German diplomacy and international relations. All participants were aware that the files constituted historical material essential to write German history and at stake was nothing less than the power to interpret the recent German past.

1. The confiscation of German documents, 1944–9
2. The first German calls for restitution
3. The positions of the United States and Great Britain
4. Negotiation marathon
5. Ad fontes: the captured German documents and the writing of history
6. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]