A lesson from Germany on eradicating a legacy of hate - The Boston Globe

Although political pressures led to the premature release of many of those convicted, and many former Nazis went on to powerful posts, the trial contributed to the vigorous, painful efforts by Germany to face how Nazism took hold and how to prevent it from happening again. The trials created factual records and a basis for questions for new generations, asking of their elders, “What did you do during the Third Reich?” Vigorous efforts to rewrite textbooks, change training for teachers, and persist in overhauling education despite initial set-backs, changed the schools and German society over the long term.