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| American soldiers during the Second World War: An Army Of Rapists? |
The Americans have got off lightly as compared to the Russians when the discourse turns to mass rape of German women during WW2. When we hear of "Rape...German women...WW2" we inevitably hear of the ugly, shoddily dressed, often Mongoloid Red Army soldiers.
This is a misconception.
GIs were no saints when compared to the Red Army soldiers where violating hapless German women was concerned. The average Russian soldier did not have the goodies to entice women. American servicemen had only to offer chocolates and cigarettes to make a starving Frau submit to them.
The important fact is that despite this handy weapon many of them raped says a lot of their mentality.
Another important point is that their commanding officers just looked the other way when instances were brought to their notice. Maintaining the prestige of their unit was more important than protecting a German women or disciplining their rowdy fighters. Their thinking was "those folks deserve it anyway". A typical mindset of a victor. Whether it be "gooks" in Vietnam or "yellow bastards" in the WW2 Pacific War. The end result is more Abu Ghraibs.
France was an ally but that did not stop American soldiers from dishonoring 3600 French women. This is according to official records. The actual figure is bound to be much higher.
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| American soldiers were almost as bad as the Russian soldiers when it came to exploiting German women during and after WW2 |
INSTANCES OF RAPES
In Sprendlingen, near frankfurt, a German women named Katherine and her teenage daughter Charlotte were gangraped by soldiers who burst into their house at night.
A German priest called Michael Merxmuller at Berchtesgaden kept a journal of the events of that time. On July 20,1945 he recorded that eight women and girls were raped. Many while their parents watched.
Andreas Vayngand a priest from the village of Hag-on-amperes recorded that on June 25 "very drunk Americans committed three rapes: one married woman, a spinster and innocent girl 16.5 years."
By order of the military command the residents had to hang on their doors lists of residents and their age - said in a memorandum dated 1 August 1945 according to the priest Alois Moozburga Shimla. What brought this order, it is easy to guess: 17 girls and women were raped several times. " We also know that the youngest victim of the Americans was only 7 years, and the most elderly - 69.
Andreas Vayngand a priest from the village of Hag-on-amperes recorded that on June 25 "very drunk Americans committed three rapes: one married woman, a spinster and innocent girl 16.5 years."
By order of the military command the residents had to hang on their doors lists of residents and their age - said in a memorandum dated 1 August 1945 according to the priest Alois Moozburga Shimla. What brought this order, it is easy to guess: 17 girls and women were raped several times. " We also know that the youngest victim of the Americans was only 7 years, and the most elderly - 69.
RENEWED FOCUS ON RAPE BY AMERICAN SOLDIERS
The subject of mass rape of German women during the Second World War by Allied soldiers, especially American soldiers warmed up again after the publication of a German book 'Als die Soldaten kamen' by Miriam Gebhardt in early 2015.
The author in it says the rapists came not only from the east but west also. That more than 8,60,000 German women and girls were violated by American GIs. Sickeningly she also says that German men and boys too were raped.
The terrible deeds occurred not only in the Soviet sector but also in American, British and French sectors of occupied Germany. It happened for days on end.
Rapes by American soldiers were less reported by the victims for two reasons. They were unwilling to speak out against the 'liberators'. Secondly, Goebbelsian propaganda had labeled only the Soviet soldiers as the 'bad guys' near the end of the conflict.
The agony that German women suffered at the end of WW2 remains under-reported in non-German Western media and the victims have not received any compensation.
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The subject of mass rape of German women during the Second World War by Allied soldiers, especially American soldiers warmed up again after the publication of a German book 'Als die Soldaten kamen' by Miriam Gebhardt in early 2015.
The author in it says the rapists came not only from the east but west also. That more than 8,60,000 German women and girls were violated by American GIs. Sickeningly she also says that German men and boys too were raped.
The terrible deeds occurred not only in the Soviet sector but also in American, British and French sectors of occupied Germany. It happened for days on end.
Rapes by American soldiers were less reported by the victims for two reasons. They were unwilling to speak out against the 'liberators'. Secondly, Goebbelsian propaganda had labeled only the Soviet soldiers as the 'bad guys' near the end of the conflict.
The agony that German women suffered at the end of WW2 remains under-reported in non-German Western media and the victims have not received any compensation.
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The figure of 190,000 is very modest. Australian war correspondent Osmar White accompanied since 1944 3rd US Army General Patton and his diaries recorded the impressions and all the information. He actively criticized the policies of the Allies in the west zone of occupation, gave examples of mass rape of German women. And not only black Americans but also white. He says that there was a lot of rape committed by fighting American soldiers in Germany. The occurrence differed from unit to unit, depending on the commanders.
Erika Vora in her book "SILENT NO MORE, Personal Narratives Of German Women Who Survived WW2" writes of another incident where a couple of GIs motioned a German women at gunpoint to go into a nearby wood with them. When she repeatedly refused she was shot in the leg and left to die by the roadside until a passing German man took her to a hospital.
The Allies did not take the mass rape of German women with any seriousness. In the Nuremberg Trial Proceedings document there is a 732 page index. "Looting" has 3 pages. There is not a single mention of rape or crimes against women in the index.
The numerous ravages committed by American soldiers busts the long held myth that there was no need of coercion as German women were readily enticed by a bar of chocolate.
The amorous tendencies of the GIs was not limited to Germany alone. Robert Lilly in his book "Taken By Force" estimates that about 17000 rapes were committed between 1942 and 1945 in Britain, France and Germany. Only 5% of these were reported. And Lilly's estimates are very very conservative.
In conclusion, in the unending discussions on the Second World War, there is little mention of the plight of the German women at the end of WW2. 70 years later there is no recognition of the crime, no apologies made, either by the Russians or the Americans.
And research on this subject is being done only in Germany. Why are there no books by American and British historians, academics and writers? One can count only one book, Mary Louise Roberts book "What Soldiers Do: Sex And The American GI In World War 2 France". Nothing else. There is of course Robert Lilly's "Taken by Force: Rape and American GIs in Europe in World War II". But it has racist undertones and it says mainly the black Americans were the bad guys. There are passing mentions in many treatises but not a single book on the mass rape of German women during WW2.
Related...
American Soldiers And French Women
Brutal Mass Rape Of German Women
The numerous ravages committed by American soldiers busts the long held myth that there was no need of coercion as German women were readily enticed by a bar of chocolate.
The amorous tendencies of the GIs was not limited to Germany alone. Robert Lilly in his book "Taken By Force" estimates that about 17000 rapes were committed between 1942 and 1945 in Britain, France and Germany. Only 5% of these were reported. And Lilly's estimates are very very conservative.
In conclusion, in the unending discussions on the Second World War, there is little mention of the plight of the German women at the end of WW2. 70 years later there is no recognition of the crime, no apologies made, either by the Russians or the Americans.
And research on this subject is being done only in Germany. Why are there no books by American and British historians, academics and writers? One can count only one book, Mary Louise Roberts book "What Soldiers Do: Sex And The American GI In World War 2 France". Nothing else. There is of course Robert Lilly's "Taken by Force: Rape and American GIs in Europe in World War II". But it has racist undertones and it says mainly the black Americans were the bad guys. There are passing mentions in many treatises but not a single book on the mass rape of German women during WW2.
Related...
American Soldiers And French Women
Brutal Mass Rape Of German Women