Following the war, Nebe's career and involvement with the 20 July plot were the subject of several apologetic accounts by the members of the plot, who portrayed him as a professional policeman and a dedicated anti-Nazi. The notions that Nebe's motivations were anything other than Nazi ideology have since been discredited by historians who describe him as an opportunist and an "energetic", "enthusiastic" and "notorious" mass murderer driven by racism and careerism.