Mitläufer
Sign in to saveAlso known as fellow traveler, fellow traveller
A '''''' (, German for "fellow traveller"; plural , feminine ) is a person tied to or passively sympathising with certain social movements, often to those that are prevalent, controversial or radical. In English, the term was most commonly used after World War II, during the denazification hearings in West Germany, to refer to people who were not charged with Nazi crimes but whose involvement with the Nazi Party was considered so significant that they could not be exonerated for the crimes of the Nazi regime.
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7 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Legal definitions
- Assessment
- Examples
- See also
- References
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A '''''' (, German for "fellow traveller"; plural , feminine ) is a person tied to or passively sympathising with certain social movements, often to those that are prevalent, controversial or radical. In English, the term was most commonly used after World War II, during the denazification hearings in West Germany, to refer to people who were not charged with Nazi crimes but whose involvement with the Nazi Party was considered so significant that they could not be exonerated for the crimes of the Nazi regime.
==Etymology== The German word (literally "with-walker" or "one walking with") has been in common use since the 17th century. It means as much as "follower", more literally "tag-along", a person who gives in to peer pressure. A is one who is not convinced by the ideology of the group followed but merely offers no resistance, such as for lack of courage or for opportunism.