https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himmerod_memorandum

The Himmerod memorandum (German: Himmeroder Denkschrift) was a 40-page document produced in 1950 after a secret meeting of former Wehrmacht high-ranking officers invited by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer to the Himmerod Abbey to discuss West Germany’s Wiederbewaffnung (rearmament). The resulting document laid the foundation for the establishment of the new military force (Bundeswehr) of the Federal Republic.

The participants of the conference were convinced that no future German army would be possible without the historical rehabilitation of the Wehrmacht and so the memorandum included these key demands:

• All German soldiers convicted as war criminals would be released.
• The “defamation” of the German soldier, including those of the Waffen-SS, would have to cease.
• “Measures to transform both domestic and foreign public opinion” with regards to the German military would need to be taken.

Adenauer accepted the propositions and, in turn, advised the representatives of the three Western powers that German armed forces would not be possible as long as German soldiers remained in custody. To accommodate the West German government, the Allies commuted a number of war crimes sentences.