The packed little hall in the Saar mining town of Illingen crackled with excitement. Behind the stage, huge and threatening, a black eagle glared down from a red banner with the three initials of the new Saar Democratic Party (DPS) slashed white across its breast. Party Chieftain Heinrich Schneider, a stocky, sad-eyed lawyer of 48, bounded onto the platform to speak. The crowd of coal miners—yellow-haired youngsters and grizzled, Russian-front veterans—stiffened in anticipation, ready to jump frenziedly at his every hoarse shout.
"We are Germans!" cried Schneider, an oldtime Nazi who worked...