Office of Military Government, United States

The Office of Military Government for Germany ( U.S.) ( OMGUS ) was the highest administrative body of the U.S. occupation zone of Germany and the U.S. sector of Berlin during the first four years after the Second World War. Headquartered OMGUS Berlin was, in addition, there were also branches in Frankfurt am Main.

History

USGCC

OMGUS replaced from September 29, 1945, the U.S. Group Control Council ( USGCC ) of the U.S. Army, which had been created in August 1944 in London, as the core of a future American military government. Its staff strength stood at 5,000 people. USGCC had developed ideas and plans for the defeated Germany, which proved to be impractical. It was assumed that the role of an American military government could be limited to take continuing German ministries and central authorities functioning and to monitor these. By now it was but come to a complete dissolution of the German administration.

Transfer of responsibility to a military authority

General Lucius D. Clay took on the task to extract an American military government of the command structure of the U.S. Army and to establish an appropriate organization that received the designation OMGUS. The U.S. Army was imminent demobilization. The military administration of Germany, which had been created in the combat phase from September 1944 until May 1945 under Dwight D. Eisenhower, and was led by the Department of G- 5 of the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force ( SHAEF/G-5 ), should be of a well-established military government to be replaced, which should implement the policy objectives of the U.S. government. In June 1945, the High Command of the regular U.S. troops were from the leadership of the local detachments for " Civil Affairs " and " Military Governement Operations " free, in November 1945, these detachments also lost the immediate right to issue instructions to the German authorities, a month later, the right to give instructions in the administrative districts. Clay intended to strongly back the American transfer powers below the country level. Therefore, German state governments should be installed, which should take the administrative tasks as early as possible. Parallel to the establishment of OMGUS authority therefore the countries had to be politically reorganized.

The main tasks of this military authority

The tasks of the OMGUS employees also denazification, and thus the re-institution of the National Socialists unloaded German belonged in all positions of public life. Another focus was to obtain detailed information about the involvement of the German economy in the Nazi regime. (Also called " OMGUS acts" ) This extensive documentation served at the Nuremberg Trials as evidence. A final report recommended, among other OMGUS the resolution of the three major German banks ( German Bank, Dresdner Bank and Commerzbank) and IG Colors.

Under the Military Governor General Lucius D. Clay, the policy of the American occupation policy moved from the JCS 1067 ( the fraternization of American soldiers, the economic dismantling and re-education of the population) from 1947 to JCS, 1779., The " defeated enemy state " Germany should not be degraded to a purely agricultural country, as U.S. Treasury Secretary Morgenthau had formulated in 1945, but will be built under the sign of incipient Cold War against the Soviet Union on a western-oriented democratic allies: Re - orientation instead of re-education. OMGUS led to September 1949 by more than 70 surveys in the American occupation zone, with which the attitude of the German population should be given to the occupiers, denazification, and to democracy. Gradually, the focus has shifted more and more towards anti-communism.

The Authority was formally dissolved on December 5, 1949; continue existing duties took over from there to the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany ( HICOG ).

The OMGUS project

In 1950 the records of the military government were shipped ( approximately 3200 linear meters in 18 shiploads ) in the USA; they are today stored as stock " Record Group 260 " in the Washington National Records Center in Suitland / Maryland. After the general American qualifying period of 30 years, the records from 1976 to 1983 were processed again in collaboration with the American archives for purposes of historical research and filmed in the amount of six million sheets to about 100,000 microfiche. At this joint project in addition to the Federal Archives and the Institute for Contemporary History were involved.

The fact -based OMGUS manual is considered an important source of research for the early time history of postwar Germany.