Miriam Gebhardt - Crimes Unspoken - The Rape of German Women at the End of the Second World War

In the district of Traunstein alone, several incidents were reported in the course of a few weeks in May 1946, a year after the end of the war. When these incidents also included murder, the population rose up in anger and demanded the ‘removal’ if possible of all ‘foreigners’ to improve legal security in the region. [69] Staatsarchiv München, LRA 214430 Traunstein 16 May 1946. In a wealthy district on the outskirts of Munich, a saleswoman in a health food store was raped in June 1946 by two American soldiers. She was out walking when a light American military truck stopped 20 metres away. One soldier with a cocked rifle ordered her to come with him into the trees.

I said in English: “No, I won’t come with you, I’m a respectable girl.” Then he pointed the rifle at me and said forcefully: “You will come with me.” I stuffed my knitting in my handbag and tried to run away. He grabbed me by the arm, pointed his weapon at me and pulled me into the undergrowth… After the intercourse he was friendly and instructed me not to speak of the incident to anyone, not even his comrade.

But that wasn’t the end of it. The other soldier threatened to shoot her if she didn’t also go into the trees with him. After the woman had undergone this rape, the first American asked her if she would meet him again at the same place the next morning, to which she agreed. ‘They gave me two cigarettes and a piece of chocolate and drove off in the direction of Gräfeling.’ The women went straightaway to a doctor, who confirmed a genital injury, and then to the police. [70] Staatsarchiv München, LRA 148575.

This case shows how self-assured but also how ignorant the Americans were in their behaviour. They had no scruples about attacking in broad daylight in the belief that they could buy themselves out of trouble with a hand-out, and even repeat the act. They had nothing to fear from the German authorities, and while they respected their own administration it did not stop them from acting in concert.

In Hochbrück bei Oberschleissheim, the 32-year-old Käthe C. was also attacked from an army vehicle in June 1946. She resisted vigorously and was beaten and clubbed for her pains. Here again a comrade kept watch during the rape. Afterwards, the assailant told her to be quiet and say nothing to his superiors. When further soldiers approached in another vehicle, they helped her and took her to the military police. Another report from the same region speaks of a hotel in which four American soldiers requisitioned a room and repeatedly brought women there. [71] Staatsarchiv München, LRA 148576.

Until the entry into force of the Paris Treaties in 1955, the German police and jurisdiction were powerless in the face of these attacks. Neither the Americans nor the Allied soldiers in the other occupied zones could be charged by them or in the occupiers’ courts. It was only after 1955 that German jurisdiction was extended to all non-criminal proceedings against natural persons from the Allied armies, albeit with very limited means, as we shall see later in the paternity claims against members of the occupying forces.

A further source of irritation was the fact that, even after the official end of the occupation status, the American armed forces refused repeatedly to cooperate with the German police. Evidence was not recognized, perpetrators were protected, and victims criminalized and intimidated. They were sometimes sought out at home by American investigators and interrogated with a lie detector without being given the opportunity to call a lawyer. If proceedings were instigated, they were in accordance with American procedural law, which also included cross-examination, a procedure unknown in Germany.

The German Child Protection League wrote to the Federal Ministry of Justice on this account in August 1956. The 15-year-old schoolgirl Erika L. had broken down in Würzburg after being cross-examined. The American doctors stated the next day that she was capable of testifying again, but she broke down once more as soon as the questioning started and had to be admitted to hospital. She had been raped by eight American soldiers. During the cross-examination, which lasted several hours, no account was taken of her youth or sense of shame and embarrassment. The Child Protection League described this procedure as a ‘second rape’ and appealed to the politicians to offer better protection, at least to minors, before American courts. But the Minister of Justice was hesitant in answering. He said that the prosecution of members of the American armed forces was the responsibility of the army, and the accused had the right to test the witness’ credibility by cross-examination. In this case at least, the third questioning session took place in the girl’s home, sparing her the need to confront her attackers again. [72] Federal Minister of Justice to the German Child Protection League on 21 September 1946. We should not forget that the tactic of accusing rape victims was not just a speciality of American military justice but still remains a popular defence strategy for casting doubt on the victim’s credibility.

The Bavarian press also repeatedly complained about the mild sentences handed down to American soldiers convicted of rape. The acquittals in the trial for rape of the 12-year-old I. S. in 1959 gave rise to furious protests. [73] BayHStaA, MInn 91951, Sicherheitsstörungen ausländischer Streitkräfte allg. 1959–1961. Worried members of parliament and church leaders asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if it would not be possible by diplomatic means to ensure that German women and girls were left alone. Violence increased every time a new unit was stationed. In 1963, in the town of Gelnhausen in Hesse, where units of the 3rd US Tank Division were stationed, for example, there was such a rise in property theft, vandalism and violence, even eighteen years after the end of the war, that the population began to wonder who would protect them from the Americans. After the rape of a 37-year-old woman by a US soldier, the town council protested to the garrison headquarters, while five citizens took the law into their own hands and beat up a black soldier. Der Spiegel carried a detailed report saying that the lack of security on the streets had also destroyed public confidence in the American sense of justice. On two occasions, civilians had followed soldiers who had been caught in the act to their barracks, only to see them ushered to the safety of the extraterritorial site by the sentries. Between 8 August and 25 September alone, twenty-one offences had been perpetrated by members of the army. A police officer who asked to see the papers of a GI who was in the process of stealing a floodlight from a building site suffered a broken finger. Although the local commander, Colonel James Terry, promised an improvement, it was to no avail. After a pile-up of German vehicles caused by American smoke grenades, a GI forced his way at night into a couple’s bedroom and only ran off when they cried loudly for help.

‘The people of Gelnhausen quickly realized that there was no point in reporting incidents of this nature. A young post office worker who had been beaten up by US soldiers and had identified the perpetrators in the barracks was later badly beaten up again by the same soldiers.’ The population also resented the fact that convicted delinquents were not imprisoned but ‘rehabilitated’ in the barracks. Often they received only a reprimand and a dressing-down from their commanding officer. A drunken captain who caused a traffic accident killing two and injuring several others got off with a warning and a 400-mark fine. The inhabitants of Gelnhausen reacted to their legal powerlessness in their own way. A father whose daughter had narrowly escaped being raped bought a handgun. The rapist of the 37-year-old woman was never caught. [74] Der Spiegel , 45 (1963); online archive www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46172639.html .