Nazi foreign organisations

Historical context

The NSDAP founded organisations abroad, such as the German-American Bund in the United States and the Auslandsorganisation (AO), to influence Germans living abroad. The aim of these organisations was to promote National Socialist propaganda, establish links with German communities abroad and gather political supporters for the regime. However, their activities were generally limited to cultural events, social gatherings and the dissemination of Nazi ideology. The planning of subversive actions against the host countries was reserved for special espionage groups. For reasons of camouflage, these were not in direct contact with the foreign organisations. The common goal was to influence political opinion in favour of the Nazi state and to weaken resistance to German expansionist policies.

It is important to distinguish between organisations that spread National Socialist ideology and those that engaged in espionage or subversive activities. The Nazi regime had intelligence networks and spies operating in various countries, but the foreign NSDAP organisations worked in close proximity.