[3] Naumann's contacts were not limited to Germany, but also included many Nazis who had fled abroad via the ratlines, such as Otto Skorzeny in Spain and Eberhard Fritsch, Johann von Leers and Hans-Ulrich Rudel in Argentina.
The following is a partial list of the most prominent known members and associates:[6][7] The primary aim of the organization was to work in the background to place a few hundred trusted men into key positions in military veterans associations, in organizations of farmers and small businessmen and in local administrations, and to turn them into a strong, unified force that eventually could supplant the established democratic parties.
[8] Naumann targeted the FDP and the DP in particular because, as mainstream parties and participants in the first coalition cabinet of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, they could prove to be viable vehicles for advancing his viewpoints and policies.
At their party conference in Munich in 1951 the FDP demanded the release of all "so-called war criminals" and welcomed the establishment of the Verband deutscher Soldaten [de] (German Soldiers' Association), an organization of former Wehrmacht and SS members, in order to advance the integration of former Nazi forces into the political system.
In particular, the very nationalist FDP state association of North Rhine-Westphalia, under the leadership of Friedrich Middelhauve, enthusiastically welcomed ex-servicemen and former Nazi Party members in order to expand its voter base to the right.
He and Middelhauve envisioned creating a unified organization of all the right wing parties along the lines of the Weimar Republic-era Harzburg Front, an effort they dubbed the Nationale Sammlung (National Collective).
[12] In the summer of 1952, Middelhauve presented to the state party conference in Bielefeld the so-called "German Program", which had been formulated largely with input from Naumann, Best, Fritzsche and Six.
The text included revanchist ideas such as refusing to renounce the right of expelled Germans to return to their home territories, and also voiced objections to the Allies judgments of former soldiers.
In Lower Saxony, the FDP state manager was Horst Huisgen [de], a former employee of the Propaganda Ministry and once the Hitler Youth leader of Upper Silesia.
Evidence seized in the raids included the manuscripts of two speeches that Naumann had delivered to his circle of intimates in November 1952, his diary going back to 1950, note books with appointments and a great deal of other correspondence.
[20] The British authorities concluded their investigation and, though they released Kaufmann on grounds of ill health, on 1 April they turned over the remaining detainees to the German government for possible trial.
[21] The government announced its intention to prosecute the accused on the basis of "forming a secret alliance endangering the security of the State and being members of an unconstitutional association".
[25] That left in custody only Naumann and Karl Friedrich Bornemann (who had been at large in the American Occupation Zone, and surrendered himself to German authorities in April).
[26] Finally on 28 July, after six hours of deliberations, the Federal Constitutional Court at Karlsruhe determined that the last two detainees could be set free, as it was unlikely that they would be able to conceal their identity or escape.
[28] Investigations continued and, on 29 June 1954, the German prosecutors determined that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with a prosecution of Naumann and Bornemann on charges of leading an unconstitutional organization.
[30] The FDP formed its own internal three-person investigative commission headed by Justice Minister Dehler, which focused on the state association of North Rhine-Westphalia.
At the end of April 1953, the national leadership forced Achenbach to step down as head of the FDP Committee on Foreign Policy; however, his expulsion from the Party sought by Dehler was not approved.