What actually happened to the wives of top Nazis like Göring and Ribbentrop right after their husbands were hanged? Did they keep their wealth or just get shamed and thrown out?
One cannot say that all wives of Nazi officials had the same feelings once their husbands were executed, they reacted differently.
There were wives who were loyal to the core. Annelies von Ribbentrop, the wife of a Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, who remained a devoted Nazi even after the execution of her husband, is one such example, and spent the bulk of her later life in his defense. A firm loyalty to the lost cause was frequently mixed with their sorrows.Other wives preferred being died so as not to be humiliated in the society, the most known case was Magda Goebbels. Her kids, together with her husband died as they could not see their life without the Third Reich.
They lost their lives after the executions. It also did not take them long to lose their power and luxury as they were dropped off the elite level into imprisonment and even ridicule by the world and the German society. The denazification process applied to them. Some, including Emmy Göring, became penniless and led a simple life with a tarnished name of her husband. Others attempted to fade into the background and live normal lives. Others were unwilling to repent steadfastly and became the leaders of neo-Nazi movements up to their deaths. Their life after the war was a bitter shock of abrupt change, which was always accompanied by the crimes of their husbands.


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