The myth of "raped Germany" by the Soviets
The myth of "raped Germany" was invented by Goebbels
In recent years, Victory Day has acquired another, alas, not a very beautiful tradition: the closer the holiday, the more often all kinds of “researchers” begin to broadcast the myth of “poor raped Germany”.
At the same time, the number of German girls who allegedly suffered from the sexual harassment of the Red Army has only grown over the years. But who needs the Russian soldier to remain in the people's memory not as a liberator and defender, but as a rapist and robber? We talked about this with a leading researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Elena Senyavskaya.
"The Nazis were intimidated into killing themselves."
- is this all a consequence of perestroika? Those years gave rise to a lot of nonsense ...
- Not certainly in that way. This vile story began much earlier, even with Goebbels' propaganda, when it was announced to the population that the Red Army was brutally raping all German women between the ages of 8 and 80. And the people were really intimidated to the limit, to the point that the activists of the Nazi party killed first their families, and then themselves.
- Why was such an image needed?
- Firstly, in order to increase the resistance of the advancing Red Army, and secondly, so that the population would leave together with their retreating units, so that they would not help the Soviet troops.
The Goebbels case in the same 1945 was continued by the allies, then the first publications appeared, where they tried to present the Red Army as an army of marauders and rapists, while completely silent about the outrages that were happening in the western zone of occupation. Since the beginning of the Cold War, the topic has been exaggerated, but not as aggressively and massively as it has begun in the past twenty years. The numbers "raped" at first were modest: from 20 thousand to 150 thousand throughout Germany. But in 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a book by two feminists, Helke Zander and Barbara Jor, "Liberators and Liberated", was published in Germany, where the figure of 2 million was first displayed. Moreover, it was derived on the basis of a completely incorrect premise: the standard ones were taken in one Berlin hospital for 1945-1946, where about 500 children were born a year, and about 15-20 people indicated “Russian” in the column “father's nationality”. Moreover, in two or three such cases, it was indicated “raped”. What are these "explorers" doing? They considered that in all cases when the father was Russian, there was rape. Then the Goebbels form "from 8 to 80" was taken and simply multiplied. However, this figure has received massive distribution since 2002, with the publication of the book by Anthony Beevor "The Fall of Berlin", which was published in our country in 2004. And the mythical "2 million", on the eve of the Victory anniversary, went for a walk in the liberal media ... Then the Goebbels form "from 8 to 80" was taken and simply multiplied. However, this figure has received massive distribution since 2002, with the publication of the book by Anthony Beevor "The Fall of Berlin", which was published in our country in 2004. And the mythical "2 million", on the eve of the Victory anniversary, went for a walk in the liberal media ... Then the Goebbels form "from 8 to 80" was taken and simply multiplied. However, this figure has received massive distribution since 2002, with the publication of the book by Anthony Beevor "The Fall of Berlin", which was published in our country in 2004. And the mythical "2 million", on the eve of the Victory anniversary, went for a walk in the liberal media ...
- Geopolitical realities have changed. On the other side, attempts were made to revise the results of the Second World War, plus - the desire to withdraw the USSR (and Russia, as its successor) from among the winners, and here all means are good. This was one of the steps that led to the fact that in a number of decisions of European organizations, including the European Parliament, Stalinism and Nazism were equated, when the aggressor and her victim were placed on the same level, replacing the theme of guilt, responsibility, and forcing us to repent for what was not.
- It turns out that these "researchers" did not write essays by themselves, but received a certain order from those who built this new geopolitics ..
- Naturally. The second reason that the West liked the myth is in the psychology of the German people, who are tired of feeling guilty, where the last generations already declare: why should we repent for the guilt of our ancestors? A wave of sentiments is now rising among them, which, while shaping their national identity, is trying to affirm the idea that their ancestors are not so guilty, that there was no collective responsibility of the Germans ... This is where the geopolitical order merges with the sentiments of the masses.
Set aside revenge!
- And what actually happened to the rape?
- We cannot say that there were no such phenomena at all. There were, but not on the scale that they lie to us today. The documents considered such facts as "emergencies and immoral phenomena." The very leadership of the country and the command believed that not only did it form a negative image of the Red Army, it also undermined discipline. And they fought against this by all means, starting with party political work, explanations, ending with the sentences of the tribunals, up to the execution of marauders and rapists.
- Are there statistics?
- Unfortunately, not all documents have been declassified yet. But those that exist allow us to calculate the scale of the phenomenon. Here is the report of the military prosecutor of the 1st Belorussian Front on unlawful actions against the civilian population for the period from April 22 to May 5, 1945. In seven armies of the front, for 908.5 thousand people, 124 crimes were recorded, of which 72 were rapes. Only 72 cases per 908.5 thousand ...
- Your opponents write that the wave of rapes happened before the capture of Berlin ...
- On April 20, directives appeared to change the attitude towards the German civilian population and prisoners of war. So our opponents insist that the order was late, while the entire period of winter and the beginning of spring of the 45th Red Army was outraged with impunity. It is not true. Because, in addition to this order and subsequent directives, there were orders at the level of fronts, armies, individual units that came out before the entry of the Red Army on the territory of other states. Brochures were distributed, which told about the history of this or that country, its culture, local traditions. In January 1945, there were orders at the level of Konev, Rokossovsky, Zhukov, which were supposed to direct the feeling of revenge in the right direction and prevent negative phenomena.
- And how did the soldiers perceive it? After all, many have lost loved ones, at home, they brought up this feeling of revenge, remember Ilya Ehrenburg with his "Kill the German!"
- Naturally, those explanations about the new feeling of revenge did not suit many. The political reports record conversations between the fighters, they are outraged by the orders: “first they said one thing, now another, and why should we feel sorry for these Germans if they behaved like this on our territory” ... But on the one hand, there are tough disciplinary measures, on the other, Russian Love for children (even the Germans admitted that our soldiers treated German children very well, fed them not only within the framework of a centralized food supply, but from their own rations, sometimes giving everything they had), did not allow large-scale acts of revenge to happen. And the main idea, which was emphasized at all levels - in our actions "we should not be like the Germans."
- Historian Yuri Zhukov argued that rape and other crimes were mostly committed not by Red Army fighters, but by former Red Army soldiers and civilians who had just been freed from concentration camps, who were once driven to Germany ...
- Yes, they were waiting to be sent home, they were not under the control of the command, there was generally a rather motley crowd of repatriates. They got lost in gangs and began to rob the locals, to take revenge for the humiliation they had to endure. And since this took place in the zone of responsibility of the Soviet troops, all this was shifted to our servicemen. There is other evidence: as the allies liberated from the camps, they were engaged in robberies in Berlin, stuffing junk cars, and on the way out of the city ours already demanded that everything be returned to its place. Another point: in the same reports of military prosecutors, it is often indicated that slanderous cases occur when the alleged rapes were not confirmed, while the commanders managed to punish the innocent. A very interesting diary was left by the Australian correspondent Osmar White, who accompanied the American army, and visited all the zones of occupation. He did not feel much sympathy for us, but argued that the Red Army, unlike the allies, was very disciplined, that the Soviet administration was very effective not only in combating crime, but also in the field of restoring cities, and providing the population with everything necessary for life. ... And that all the horrors that are told about our soldiers are, on the one hand, rumors and gossip, on the other, these crimes are mostly committed by repatriates.
The Germans fled from the Anglo-Americans to the Russians
- Oh, you can write a whole dissertation on this topic. First, there is a colossal difference in mentality. Nonsense are all these stories that the soldiers, especially from the countryside, were ragged and lascivious by definition. On the contrary, for the most part they were brought up in patriarchal traditions, and it was a real wildness for them that Hungarians and Austrians had numerous intimate relationships before marriage in the order of things. Who she is in the understanding of the Russian soldier, I will not say, so a certain disgust for such women flowed from here. The commanders were also shocked: there were a lot of reports in which it was reported that as soon as the unit had occupied a certain settlement, detachments of women, led by "mothers", came to them. Who immediately offered their famous services. And in all cases, the reaction of our officers was angry and abusive. Plus, it was often revealed that the Nazis deliberately left a certain number of women infected with venous diseases. To incapacitate soldiers. Is this also "raped Germany"?
In Romania and Hungary, ours went to brothels. But, as a rule, not very many, out of curiosity, and even then they had unpleasant sensations, a feeling of disgust and misunderstanding. The very idea of buying another person did not fit into the head of a Soviet person.
Do not forget that there was such a very widespread phenomenon as military prostitution. The diaries of German women have survived, where they philosophically argue that prostitution is a completely respectable profession. This was very common, especially in the Western zone of occupation, where the Germans, by the way, were very poorly supplied with food (in contrast to the Soviet zone, where even milk was given to children under 8 years old). The German's daily ration was less than the American breakfast. Naturally, women were forced to trade in a known way. At the same time, there were more than enough rapes. And if the Germans are to make claims of violence, then not to us, but to the allies, from whom the Germans fled in horror to the Soviet occupation zone.
- And how, by the way, did the American command react to the crimes of subordinates?
- Often - they preferred not to pay attention. In the diaries of the same Osmar White, it is said that crimes against German women were massive, that the American command did not suppress these phenomena in any way, and if any repression followed, it was only against the black rapists.
- Racism?
- Yes. In the minds of American commanders, blacks dared to raise a hand against a white woman, and having tried this business, they could bring this habit to American soil. The French troops also differed. In the American Senate after the war, it was told about the behavior of the native French formations, the Senegalese, in Stuttgart. The figures of those raped within one or two days were given: about three thousand in the Stuttgart subway alone. Until now, the Italians are making claims to the Anglo-American military for the Marroconate - the atrocities of the Moroccans that unfolded in Italy. These guys raped not only women, but also young men ...
- We are also accused of looting. By the way, where did the same trophies come from?
- It's very interesting here. There are a lot of documents that say that they were looting, mostly Anglo-Americans. Moreover, in full. They took out the property by ships, and they did not immediately start to obstruct them in the ports. Basically, they were engaged in the collection of various values. As far as the Red Army is concerned, there was such a thing as "hoarseness".
- What is it?
- It was not about robberies, but about the collection of abandoned orphaned property: open houses, broken shops, abandoned suitcases ... But even with this they fought as a dampening phenomenon ... At some point, the command allowed sending parcels home. And they did not send a watch with diamonds, but what was needed in a war-ravaged economy. Sets of sewing needles were appreciated, they could be exchanged for a good set of products ... Cuts of fabric, because there were no clothes left at home ... A lot of working tools were sent: hammers, pliers, planers, - the soldiers knew that they would return soon and they needed something then rebuild the burned villages. They cannot be blamed for this. At the same time, in all letters enclosed in the parcels, the soldiers make excuses to their wives and relatives for rags and junk. They had a very squeamish attitude towards all this ...
- By the way, do you remember that recently the entire Internet was discussing the famous photo with a view of the Reichstag, where two pairs of wristwatches are on one officer's hand?
- We figured it out for a long time. There is actually a watch and a compass that the commander was supposed to have. Or remember the photo where a Soviet soldier takes a bicycle from a Berliner and how the network liberals screamed about looting. But there was such an instruction: to confiscate the bicycles for the needs of the army and the soldier fulfilled it. Do you understand the difference in approaches?
History is blackened not for free
- By the way, about our homebrew liberals. What is their interest in broadcasting lies about their ancestors?
- In fact, there are people who do it quite deliberately. And, let's say, not free. Moreover, we are not necessarily talking about monetary rewards, there are other ways of encouragement - traveling abroad, receiving grants, citizenship ... But there is also a large layer of Internet activists who thoughtlessly repeat lies after the first group. They are so clouded by their minds that they are ready to believe in any nonsense.
- So it's not only network hamsters, the intelligentsia is already engaged in this. Pavel Polyan, a lecturer at the North Caucasus Federal University, on the air of a very liberal radio, answering a question about the fate of our women who found themselves in an intimate relationship with the invaders, replies: “There were rapes, but it was not a mass wave. In any case, this is incommensurable with the mass rapes that the Red Army abused when it entered Germany ... ”There are many disagreements between Russian historians on this topic, by the way?
- I would not like to focus on specific colleagues. There are historians from the professional community, and there are people who position themselves as such, as we call them, folk-history, who, engaging in amateur performances, are trying to impose their opinion on society. So, there is no disagreement among professionals on this topic and cannot be ...
This is an attempt to deprive the people of history
- Not only does the image of a drunken and sexually preoccupied Russian soldier appear in Western films, we are already making such films ourselves!
- It has not begun now, remember how many such films were right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. And the first picture, which showed the war not from the position of slander, but from a patriotic point of view, came out only in 2002, "Zvezda". Everything that came out before that was saturated with myths about Stalin's tyranny, about the "bloody" NKVD, SMERSH, special departments, which, it turns out, did nothing but shoot good officers in the back and terrorize soldiers. And the thought was brought up that the Victory was given to us in spite of the leadership, and in a number of them there was a veiled answer that maybe we did not even win ...
- Why?
- The Great Patriotic War still remains in our history that episode that unites the people, and not only ours, but also other peoples of the former USSR. And when they try to erase or blacken May 9 from memory, the purpose of this is quite obvious - this is an attempt to deprive the people of their history, and to show that we have no past to be proud of. If the majority of the population can be convinced of this, then such a people will have no future. Understand that the history of the Great Patriotic War has long turned into a large-scale information battlefield.
- Are we losing in it?
- In general, yes.
- Why are only lone historians opposed to attacks on our history? The state seems to be talking about the need to protect history from falsity, but films in which the Russian soldier is a frostbitten cattle continue to be filmed, and the liberals calmly continue to broadcast about the "crimes" of the Red Army on state channels ...
- Do you want to hear about it from me? Because in fact, there is no countering falsehood at the state level. And it should be very tough. And the issues should be raised bluntly by the country's top officials. One of the Russian emperors, Nicholas I, having somehow learned that a play had been staged in Paris denigrating the Russian army, demanded that it be removed. And when the French, referring to the freedom of creativity, refused, he replied: okay, then I will send you a million spectators in greatcoats, and they will dress you up ... The play was immediately removed.
- Can you imagine that someone in the USA "at the behest of the soul" makes a film in which American soldiers in Germany do nothing but rape, rob and drink? ..
- I think this film would be the last in the career of such directors and screenwriters, they are very closely watching such manifestations of "freedom". They understand how dangerous it is. Moreover, research on this topic, if conducted, is not particularly advertised. By the way, back in 1989, the book "Other losses" by the Canadian author James Buck was published, who argued that over a million German prisoners were starved to death in the camps of the American zone of occupation. He was immediately pecked at by his colleagues and declared almost a fool ...
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Oleg Kultaev
The book "When the Soldiers Came" by the German professor Miriam Gebhardt caused shock in Europe. The historian has debunked the old myth about the "atrocities" of the Red Army: Germans were raped en masse by the British and Americans.
Lessons from the victory over Nazi Germany ”was the title of the conference, which took place in London just in time - before the 70th anniversary of the Victory. But how many Old Testament clichés were given by British experts instead of an objective analysis! Again and again they said about "the decisive contribution of the Anglo-American allies to victory." And they often recalled "raped Germany" - naturally, by the soldiers of the Red Army. A terrible figure was given - 2 million victims - although it has long been refuted by declassified documents of those war years (see the website kp.ru).
In opposition to such accusations, the author of this article, who participated in the conference, read out excerpts from the book When the Soldiers Came, which had just appeared in Germany. In it, the German history professor Miriam Gebhardt cited facts and figures to which you will not close your eyes.
"FEATS" OF PRIVATE MARIANO
Private US Tank Battalion Blake Mariano was undoubtedly a gallant soldier. He fought the Germans in Africa, Italy and southern France. In March 1945, his tank crossed the Rhine and moved through Germany.
By this time, 29-year-old Blake had not been home in New Mexico for almost three years. A friend was waiting for him in the British Isles. However, that evening the American had no time for her. He decided to celebrate the capture of the village of Lauf and, together with another American soldier, found a cellar with good cognac. Having typed thoroughly, I wanted to "continue the fun."
There were seventeen villagers hiding in the church there - women and children. Blake pointed a gun at 20-year-old Elfrida, took her out into the yard and raped her. Returning to the church, I chose the next German woman. When it turned out that 40-year-old Martha was menstruating, he shot her. In torment, the woman died a day later. And the brave soldier, meanwhile, was studying with 54-year-old Babette.
Talking about this episode, Miriam Gebhardt states:
- One of the persistent and beloved paintings depicting the Second World War is as follows: liberating Germany from the Nazis, the British and American troops behaved quite decently, but the Red Army soldiers raped hundreds of thousands of German women between the ages of eight and eighty years. In fact, everything is different.
The author cites the following data: the Americans sexually abused 190 thousand women in Germany, the British - 45 thousand, the French about the same. Gebhardt practically does not write about the Red Army, but considers the figure of 2 million "many times overstated".
When the Soldiers Came, the people of the United Kingdom were dismayed.
“If this information is correct,” the journalists of the London Daily Mail gloomily state, “then we should seriously reconsider our assessment of the liberation of Germany by the Allied forces. In addition, it is necessary to radically change the attitude towards those whom we consider “our great generation”.
In total, only 152 American military personnel were convicted of rape during World War II. But this list, of course, is not complete, because this kind of crime is rarely known. British scientist Leon Radzinovich estimates that only five percent of women report violence against them. They are ashamed and silent.
During the war, this figure was even lower. “When American soldiers entered the cities and villages of the Third Reich, they shouted to the terrified residents:“ You will sleep with me! ”, The book says. - Many German women went for it. Someone - to save themselves and their loved ones, someone - for simple gifts, and someone at will ”.
After the war, some "heroes" who ended up in American prisons admitted that rape was not necessary, since Fraulein sometimes agreed to everything for nylon stockings or even for a pack of cigarettes. Many cases are so egregious that Gebhardt did not dare, according to her, to write about them. Especially about child abuse. For example, one of the victims was only three years old.
Crimes were often committed by groups of brutal robbers and marauders. On a March night in 1945, six completely drunk Americans broke into a house near Frankfurt. For several hours they raped the landlady and her 18-year-old daughter in the same room, who shouted "Mom!" But nobody came to the rescue. The soldiers took away all the valuables.
Most often, the Germans told the local priests about the incident. Miriam Gebhardt quotes a journal entry from Berchtestgaden pastor Michael Merksmüller: "Eight girls were raped, some in front of their parents."
The author of the book adds that the British and French "tried to keep up" with the Americans. On April 16, 1945, soldiers from Albion mocked three residents of the town of Neustadt for several hours. And in the village of Oile, the soldiers dragged a little girl into the forest and when she started screaming, they shot her.
In the Allied armies, the punishment for sex offenses was, in theory, harsh. Sometimes - life imprisonment, in some cases even the death penalty. But the higher ranks, as a rule, tried not to wash dirty linen in public. Why dishonor yourself?
Military courts were also lenient towards such "violators". Why are there courts, the British king himself sometimes took under the protection of his subjects. One of the British soldiers was sentenced to a long prison term under a barrage of irrefutable evidence. But less than two years later, at the behest of the monarch, he was completely freed from criminal liability.
Nevertheless, the London press is now lashing out at Miriam Gebhardt. They say that the allies, of course, committed crimes, but still not on such a scale as she narrates. And the children who were born by the raped German women, probably not two thousand, as the historian counted, but several times less. The author of the book is even accused of anti-Americanism.
However, the same "Daily Mail" admits that "at the end of the war, terrible things were happening in the occupied territories", and reprints excerpts about Private Blake Mariano.
By the way, in his case, justice was done. By decision of the tribunal, Mariano was hanged for murder and rape. “But all the same, his death was easier than the fate of many of those whom he and people like him destroyed,” the book says.
Source
Translation Reviewed by Svitlana M.
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