The Struggle for the Files Eckert Paperback Cambridge University Press

The Struggle for the FilesThe Western Allies and the Return of German Archives after the Second World War\nAuthor(s): Astrid M. Eckert\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781107629202, 978-1107629202\nSynopsis\nWhen 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 dip.