The majority of the disputed recipients had been nominated for the award in 1945, when the deteriorating situation of Germany during the final days of World War II left a number of nominations incomplete and pending in various stages of the approval process.
Most of the individuals involved in the controversy were initially selected as nominees in 1945. However, due to Germany's dire circumstances at the end of World War II, many nominations remained unfinished and unresolved by mid-1945.