A Mitläufer 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.
[3] In the American Sector of Allied-occupied Germany, a "follower" was the second lowest group or category in the denazification proceedings.
The denazification hearings classified Germans according to five groups:[4] In Allied-occupied Austria, the Russian term poputchik (fellow traveller) was translated into German as Mitläufer, and they were considered to be "lesser offenders" (a person who, although not formally charged with participation in war crimes, was sufficiently involved with the Nazi regime to the extent that the Allied authorities could not legally exonerate them).
"[7] In essence, Mitläufer were found de facto guilty of contributing to Nazi crimes, even though they were not necessarily ideologically committed to some essential Nazi doctrines, especially biological racism and the policy of Jewish extermination.
[citation needed] In addition to von Karajan, well-known Mitläufer included the philosopher Martin Heidegger, the filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, Christian Schad,[8] and Wilhelm Stuckart.