In the final months of the Second World War, as the net tightened on the government of
the Nazi Party, the Allies and the Red Army stormed into German lands and caused chaos.
There was much suffering in the final days of the deadliest conflict in History, and
much assault was committed against the women of Germany.
Thousands of crimes would be committed against them but not just the Red Army, but also other
Allied armies.
These incidents led to the fear spreading amongst the surviving German population with
locals sheltering women and trying to hide them.
In Berlin, women sheltered during what they believed was ‘the hunting hours,’ after
Soviet soldiers would get very drunk and then hunt for women as if they were prey.
But what isn’t as well documented is the crimes committed by the Americans and also
the British.
Join us today as we look at the horrific torture of the women of Germany, remember to support
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Much of the violence against women occurred when the soldiers fought their way into the
Third Reich and the heart of Germany.
Many believed that they could do as they pleased, and the Soviets in particular believed in
revenge for the crimes committed upon women living in the Soviet Union following Operation
Barbarossa.
The first crimes by Soviet soldiers began during the Battle of Romania and during the
Budapest Offensive, and the majority of assaults were committed in the Soviet occupation zones.
Estimates state that over 2 million women were subjected to horrific ordeals, and many
women were repeatedly assaulted up to 70 times by soldiers.
It’s believed that 240,000 women died in connection with the assaults in Germany, with
many struggling to live with themselves after their ordeal.
There was no limit on age, as women up to 80 years old were targeted, but Stalin had
a disgusting attitude towards the crimes.
He stated that one should understand if a soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometres
through blood and fire and death has fun with a woman or takes some trifle.’
Even after the war, there were mass crimes committed against women by the Soviets upon
those who lived under the occupation zone designated for them.
One former Soviet officer would state, ‘we were young’s strong and four years without
women, so we tried to Catch German women.
There were not enough women, the entire population ran from the Soviet Army, so we had to take
the young.’
A woman telephone operator who served in the Soviet army stated, ‘I feel shame now, but
I did not feel shame back then, we hated to see the Germans undamaged white houses, I
wanted them to suffer, I wanted to see their tears.’
Another said, ‘You know very well that we’ve come to Germany to take our revenge.’
Eyewitness testimony from the Battle of Berlin was harrowing as it documented the assault
by Soviet soldiers.
It was said, ‘The next morning, we women proceeded to make ourselves look as unattractive
as possible to the Soviets by smearing our faces with coal dust and covering our heads
with old rags, our make-up for the Ivan.
We huddled together in the central part of the basement, shaking with fear, while some
peeked through the low basement windows to see what was happening on the Soviet-controlled
street.
We felt paralyzed by the sight of these husky Mongolians, looking wild and frightening.
At the ruin across the street from us the first Soviet orders were posted, including
a curfew.
Suddenly there was a shattering noise outside.
Horrified, we watched the Soviets demolish the corner grocery store and throw its contents,
shelving and furniture out into the street.
Urgently needed bags of flour, sugar and rice were split open and spilled their contents
on the bare pavement, while Soviet soldiers stood guard with their rifles so that no one
would dare to pick up any of the urgently needed food.
This was just unbelievable.
At night, a few desperate people tried to salvage some of the spilled food from the
gutter.
Hunger now became a major concern because our ration cards were worthless with no hope
of any supplies.’
Another said, ‘The front-line Russian troops who did the fighting – as a woman, you didn't
have to be afraid of them.
They shot every man they saw, even old men and young boys, but they left the women alone.
It was the ones who came afterwards, the second echelon, who were the worst.
They did all the raping and plundering.
They stripped homes of every single possession, right down to the toilets.’
Diseases spread throughout the German population, and many women were killed by their husbands
for allegedly consenting in relations with Allied soldiers, and many German women were
verbally attacked by German soldiers on the streets for being assaulted by allied soldiers.
But it wasn’t just the Soviet soldiers who rampaged throughout Germany, as an American
Historian estimates that the number of assaults committed by the American servicemen in Germany
was around 11,000.
These occurred following the D-Day invasion, and many of the crimes in Germany were committed
by armed soldiers who at gunpoint committed the terrible crimes.
Within the American Army, there were policies which discouraged fraternisation with the
German people, but the Americans claimed that if they didn’t converse with the women then
this didn’t matter, which was a disturbing look on their actions.
An Australian who served with the American soldiers later wrote, ‘After the fighting
moved on to German soil, there was a good deal of assault by combat troops and those
immediately following them.
The incidence varied between unit and unit according to the attitude of the commanding
officer.
In some cases offenders were identified, tried by court martial, and punished.
The army legal branch was reticent, but admitted that for brutal or perverted sexual offences
against German women, some soldiers had been shot – particularly if they happened to
be black soldiers.
Yet I know for a fact that many women were assaulted by white Americans.
No action was taken against the culprits.’
Many drunk American soldiers would force women into these situations at gunpoint, and some
even left gifts of food afterwards for the women.
There were also assaults committed by the British soldiers in the war, and the British
Military Police did then investigate the crimes.
But these numbers were small compared to other crime such as desertion that they were forced
to look at.
For the British it made more sense for them to arrest and deal with deserters and possible
trouble makers who could inspire mutiny in their ranks than to investigate those who
committed crimes against women.
But some British soldiers who suffered from PTSD or were drunk did commit some crimes,
but also there were other incidents which were shocking and were pre-medidated.
On the 16th April 1945, three women in Neustadt am Rubenberge were assaulted, but more assault
occurred in other villages.
Two local girls were held at gunpoint, and one of the women was then later shot by the
British soldiers.
Many British officers were not willing to punish their soldiers, and they tended to
shy away from taking any action.
Inside of Hanover which fell in the British Zone there was a state of anarchy and lawlessness
as soldiers and also displaced people would commit terrible crimes against women, and
would even murder German civilians in reprisal.
The French soldiers that took part in the Invasion of Germany also found themselves
caught up in large scale atrocities.
French women had been often assaulted in the early part of the conflict as the Germans
invaded and occupied France, but some French women did fall in love with German officers,
and some would sleep with them as they believed it was their best method of surviving.
There were hundreds of crimes against women inside of French occupation zones, and some
claimed that French Moroccan troops were similar in their behaviour to the Soviet soldiers
inside of Berlin.
So as the Allies and the Red Army rampaged into Germany and the heart of the Third Reich,
they left a horrific trail of assault against the German women.
As mentioned many Soviet soldiers believed this was sufficient revenge against the women
who were massacred and treated awfully by the German soldiers.
They believed that the women of Berlin at times were a spoil of war and a trophy, which
was shocking in itself.
But what isn’t as well told is the crimes of the American army, the British army and
also the French who themselves committed terrifying crimes against the women that they came across.
There were thousands of children born to enemy father’s and many of these women could not
live with themselves following their ordeals at the hands of the allied soldiers.
It was a tragic consequence of the fighting of the Second World War, and it was a dark
side of the conflict.
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