Managing their own past. German archivists between national socialism and democracy.

The article examines the transition of (West) German archivists from the Nazi period to the time of Allied occupation and on into the early years of the Federal Republic of Germany. After considering the extent of the profession's nazification, the article focuses on Allied denazification efforts after the war and discusses the strategies archivists devised in order to maneuver through these dangerous times. In the end, the archival profession mastered the transition with only minor ''denazification damage.'' The article closes with an examination of the consequences of the continuity of personnel especially among the leading archivists of the former Prussian Archival Administration (Preussische Archivverwaltung) for the reconstruction of the archival profession in West Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]